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Looking back

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While not quite the halfway point of the season, the holiday break affords an opportunity to look back on the first part of the Atlantic Hockey campaign.

The Year of the Goalie
We’ll give goalies and defenses the credit for the lack of scoring so far this season. Last year at this time, 429 goals had been scored in league play; this year only 363 goals have been tallied. Scoring per game per team is down from an average of 3.20 goals to 2.71. Four teams have starting goalies with GAAs below 2.0; nine are below 2.5.

“Last year every team had a couple of guys that put up some big numbers,” said Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley. “Some years it’s the year of the forward; this year might be a year of the goalie.”

 

Who’s up, who’s down
Let’s take a look at USCHO.com’s preseason predictions vs. where we are at this point in the season. Because teams have played an uneven number of games so far, I’m listing them based on winning percentage.

 

Actual                                           USCHO.com Prediction

1. Air Force                                1. Air Force

T2. Mercyhurst                         2. RIT

T2. Robert Morris                    3. Holy Cross

4. RIT                                          4. Niagara

T5. Bentley                                 5. Connecticut

T5. Holy Cross                          6. Robert Morris

7. Niagara                                  7. Canisius

8. Canisius                                8. Mercyhurst

9. UConn                                   9. Army

10. AIC                                      10. Sacred Heart

11. Army                                    11. Bentley

12. Sacred Heart                     12. AIC

 

Exceeding Expectations: 
– Mercyhurst lost a boatload of talent to graduation and transfer, but has opened strong thanks to the emergence of senior goaltender Max Strang and a talented group of rookies that includes Nardo Nagtzaam, who leads the team in scoring. Four of the Lakers top five scorers are freshman.

– Bentley is tied with Holy Cross for the top record in the eastern pod and fifth overall. The Falcons are getting top-notch goaltending from sophomore Branden Komm and have at least one game in hand on four of the five teams above them in the standings.

– Robert Morris was expected to finish out of the top four this season due to the loss of a couple of high-scoring seniors. But others have picked up the slack and the Colonials are second in the league in offense and have the best penalty kill in Division I.

 

Most valuable
The top player in Atlantic Hockey at this point of the season has to be Air Force junior forward Kyle De Laurell. He has 22 points so far (11 goals, 11 assists) and is averaging 1.45 points per game in league play.

 

Top rookie
This was a tough call with so many talented freshman to chose from. I’m going with Robert Morris forward Cody Wydo. His seven goals so far include three game winners. Honorable mentions to Wdyo’s classmate Scott Jacklin and Air Force rookie Cole Gunner.

 

Hey now, you’re an…
Here your mid-season AHA all-stars:

Forwards:

Kyle De Laurell, jr., Air Force

Cole Schneider, so., Connecticut

Brett Gensler, so., Bentley

 

Defense:

Alex Gerke, Connecticut

Tim Kirby, Air Force

 

Goalie:

Max Strang, sr., Mercyhurst

 

 Three fun stats from the first half:
– Robert Morris has killed off 46 of 48 power play attempts so far this season, and have two shorthanded goals, meaning they are a net zero on penalties taken so far this season.

– Team “A” has scored 16 of its 30 goals in league play in the third period. Team “B” has allowed 13 of 27 goals against in league play in the third period. Normally, a team with a strong third period is a winning team. In this case, not so much. Team “A” is Sacred Heart, which is 0-10-1 in the AHA so far. Team “B” is RIT, which is 7-4-2.

– There is no third fun stat. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Difficult pool awaits older United States team at 2012 World Juniors

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The United States is ready to take the ice in the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship as a two-time defending medalist. After capturing gold in dramatic fashion in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 2010, Team USA earned a bronze medal on quasi-home ice in Buffalo, N.Y., last year.

With all that glory in the past now, if this year’s team hopes to pull off a trifecta of medals (which would be a first for the U.S.) it will have to beat some pretty stiff competition.

Team USA has drawn a difficult bracket for pool play. Of the five teams in Group B — Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and the U.S. — only three will advance to medal play.

Recent history dictates that Canada, the host, and the Czech Republic are all but shoo-ins to emerge from pool play. That reasoning would leave one final spot for Denmark (moving up from the Group A championship in 2011), Finland and the U.S.

It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that when USA Hockey announced its final roster on Thursday morning, it unveiled one laden with experience and older players. Nineteen of the 22 players are in their final year of under-20 eligibility.

“We tried to select 22 players who can best [compete],” said Team USA general manager Jim Johannson. “When people see our team play, they’re going to see a team that plays at a high tempo, that competes all over the ice and is a fundamentally sound team that does the right thing to win hockey games. That’s what you have to do at this championship.”

In addition to being quite possibly the oldest U.S. team in the tournament’s history, there will be a wealth of returning experience. Seven players — led by goaltender Jack Campbell, who has played in each of the last two tournaments — return from last year’s squad.

“Every year you want to have the leadership, and that has to come from our seven returning players,” said Team USA and Nebraska-Omaha coach Dean Blais. “That dressing room straightens out and if there are any problems those captains and your leaders are the ones to straighten it out.”

Assessing the competition, Blais wasn’t giving away many secrets but also made obvious the fact that no opponent in the pool could go overlooked. Otherwise, the U.S. may be on the outside looking in for the medal round.

Blais said simply that Denmark is a team that his staff doesn’t know a lot about. There will be limited opportunity to scout the team as it is the USA’s opening opponent on Dec. 26.

As for those with more familiarity, Blais said that Finland is a team that is “always competitive and hardworking.” The U.S. played against Finland in Lake Placid, N.Y., during an evaluation camp this past summer. Blais watched as they narrowly lost to Canada last year 3-1 in the preliminary round of the World Juniors and, as he recalls, “gave them everything they could handle.”

He says that his staff will scout the Czechs throughout the tournament as USA won’t face them until Dec. 30, but notes that the team is very talented and “is always a tough opponent.”

And then there’s Canada.

This is the second time in three years that the U.S. and Canada will square off on New Year’s Eve in pool play. Two years ago, Canada rallied from a late deficit and won in a shootout against the U.S. only to lose in overtime in the gold-medal game. Last year, the U.S. didn’t have to face Canada in pool play but, after winning its pool, squared off with the rival Canadians in the semifinals with Team Canada cruising to an easy 4-1 victory.

You may say, then, that the U.S. is looking for some revenge. For Blais, who was the head coach of the 2010 gold-medal team, that’s not the focus.

“Canada is Canada,” said Blais. “Obviously, playing up in Calgary and Edmonton [this year], they’re the favorite of the tournament. We want to be in a position where we improve to have some chance of success like we did in Saskatoon two years ago.

“We felt we played a good hockey game when we lost in a shootout [in pool play] in Saskatoon. Then we got into the gold-medal game and were fortunate enough to win.”

Team USA hopes to have a similar fate come this year’s gold-medal game on Jan. 5. If that’s to happen, there will be a number of key players at a variety of positions that will have a hand in the club’s success.

Here is a breakdown of this year’s U.S. World Junior team by position:

Goaltender (Returning: 1, New: 1)

Campbell has proven himself a winner in World Junior competition. He was the backstop to the team in 2010 when it upset Canada and was able to rally the U.S. after a semifinal loss to earn the bronze medal last year against Sweden. He will be heavily relied upon by Blais, not just to stop the puck but to provide the veteran leadership this team will need on enemy soil.

“We don’t want it all to fall on Jack Campbell to be the leader but certainly he’s the most important returning playing being the goaltender who won the gold medal and the bronze medal last year,” said Blais. “Without the leadership you don’t have a chance.”

First-year WJC goaltender John Gibson (who, ironically like Campbell had committed to Michigan before changing his mind and playing major junior) may be green when it comes to this tournament but he’s achieved plenty of success for Team USA in the past. He was the top goaltender at last summer’s U18 World Championship in Dresden, leading the U.S. to its third straight gold medal in the event.

The only concern about Gibson might be his numbers at this summer’s WJC evaluation camp. Gibson appeared in four games against teams from the U.S., Finland and Sweden and posted a 4.82 goals against average and a .831 save percentage.

Defensemen (Returning: 2, New: 5)

Possibly the most important position for the U.S., the blue line will be made up of a high percentage of first-timers in the WJC. North Dakota’s Derek Forbort and Jon Merrill, who has missed the entire first half of the season for Michigan while serving an indefinite suspension he was dealt for violating a team rule, will provide the experience on a blue line that has an average height greater than 6-foot-3.

“Derek doesn’t make many mistakes and he’s been real solid throughout camp for us,” Blais said about Forbort. “We [Nebraska-Omaha] split [with North Dakota] up in Grand Forks and he was, I thought, their best defenseman.”

Merrill enters the team in an interesting circumstance, having not played a game for the entire first half of the season at Michigan and not even practiced with the team until early November. So one has to question his game shape, but that doesn’t seem to faze Team USA’s Johannson.

“It’s a credit to John that he has been working hard in anticipation of the opportunity and knowing he had to come earn a spot on the roster,” said Johannson. “He came with that mind-set and showed it on the ice and actually showed very good durability and game sense and looked like a guy that’s ready to play at this level.”

The remainder of Team USA’s blue line is made up of mostly 19-year-olds making their first WJC appearances. Boston University’s Adam Clendening, St. Cloud State’s Kevin Gravel, Notre Dame’s Stephen Johns and London’s (OHL) Jarred Tinordi all fall into that category of 1992 birthdays.

The exception is 17-year-old Jacob Trouba, the youngest player on this year’s team, who has committed to Michigan for next fall. Blais admits he may not have been on his radar prior to last summer’s evaluation camp but that the 6-foot-2 blueliner from Rochester, Minn., certainly earned his spot.

“Jack has surprised me very much,” said Blais. “Being a ’94 birthday, you never know if a young player can make the transition and play at this level. But he’s certainly surprised us and earned his way on this team. He’s strong and moves the puck very well and he’s physical. He’s quick enough and smart enough to be very effective for us.”

Forwards (Returning: 4, New: 9)

If there’s anything that recent performances have told us about Team USA is that this is a team that will be able to score.

Leading the returning players is a trio of collegians — Minnesota’s Nick Bjugstad, BU’s Charlie Coyle and Denver’s Jason Zucker. Standout Emerson Etem of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers rounds out the four veterans.

Bjugstad and Coyle were standouts at last year’s tournament. Coyle tied for the team lead in assists (4) and points (6) in the six-game tournament while Bjugstad notched game-winners in the opening game against Finland and the bronze-medal clincher versus Sweden.

Bjugstad, though, may be one of Blais’ biggest concerns entering the tournament. Though leading the Gophers at the break with 27 points in 20 games, sources report that the sophomore separated his shoulder during the first shift of the Gophers’ final game of the semester, a 6-2 win over Michigan Tech on Dec. 10.

Blais acknowledged the injured on Thursday and said he’s unsure if the star forward will be healthy in time for the team’s opener on Monday.

“Nick’s been hurt and we’re trying to determine day-to-day if he’s going to be ready for the Denmark game,” said Blais. “He’s practicing and was at full speed [on Thursday] and yet we’re not quite sure when he’s going to be in the lineup.”

Six other collegians dot the lineup as first-timers, including Josh Archibald (Nebraska-Omaha), Bill Arnold (Boston College), Connor Brickley (Vermont), Austin Czarnik (Miami), Kyle Rau (Minnesota) and T.J. Tynan (Notre Dame).

Brickley, one of the final cuts from the team a year ago, will be used as a defensive forward, according to Blais.

“Brickley, right now, is playing in a role where he’s going to be a defensive forward right now but certainly has offensive capabilities,” said Blais. “We’re getting our team to try to take more pride in our defensive zone and be more responsible without the puck and making plays when they’re there. Connor Brickley has been a surprise for us [in that respect].”

Coaching

You won’t find more experience and success on many past U.S. WJC team benches. Team USA will have three coaches with college ties, including Blais. In addition to leading the U.S. to one of its two goal medals in the WJC two years ago, he also served as coach of the U.S. WJC entry in 1993.

Assisting him will be his good friend Scott Sandelin from Minnesota-Duluth as well as Joe Exter, a former standout goaltender at Merrimack who was a longtime goaltending coach of the U.S. National Team Development Program before taking a similar position at Ohio State.

Tom Ward of Shattuck St. Mary’s rounds out the coaching staff.

ECAC Hockey’s three things: Holiday edition (part 3 of 3)

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It’s the Final Four… of the first half review. Sexy. Here’s three things apiece on each of the league’s current vanguards.

Yale

• It’s a new year and a new team, so Yale is finding new ways to win. If the dominant Elis of the past few years were something akin to a multi-headed hydra, the new breed of Big Blue victor may as well be a tsunami. There were a few very, very good players on each of Yale’s recent NCAA qualifiers, but this year’s team is – if anything – devoid of superstars. Second-year forward Kenny Agostino is the side’s only point-per-game player so far (4-6–10 in 10 games), and the Bulldogs’ leading goal-scorers through a dozen games – senior Brian O’Neill and junior Antoine Laganiere – sport only five snipes apiece. Keith Allain’s charges are succeeding with sheer, impersonal offensive volume. Opponents may as well forget about keying in on O’Neill, Laganiere, Agostino, senior Chad Ziegler or junior Andrew Miller; the Bulldogs stat sheet names a mere four skaters who haven’t notched a point yet this year, and they’ve only combined for 10 games played.

• The Blue boast 18 strong, all year long. Allain has had to do incredibly little roster-juggling between contests thanks to a very healthy and consistent autumn. While he admits that this is a rebuilding year, he has been able – and elected – to play the same 18 skaters game after game. The four point-less skaters mentioned above constitute the quartet who has seen just the barest bit of game-worn ice, bridging brief gaps when injury or the rare healthy scratch muddles the coaches’ plans. It is quite simply one of the least variable college lineups I’ve ever seen.

• Jeff Malcolm has answered the bell. Beyond the Blue’s question marks up front, perhaps Yale’s greatest concern entering this season (stop me if this sounds familiar) was in net. Junior Jeff Malcolm has promptly stepped up and staked his claim to the No. 1 spot with gusto, silencing critics and worrywarts alike with a .925 overall save rate and 2.50 goals against average. His numbers are even more imposing in six league starts, at .941/2.19, bolstered by three straight ECAC shutouts in early November. Classmate Nick Maricic has mopped up a little bit, but has yet to start. If there’s any weakness on the back end, it might be with the three underclassmen (two frosh, one soph) defensemen, who have been prone to commit nasty turnovers and lose track of crashing strikers every now and again. Growing pains, though… they happen.

Quinnipiac

• Just call ’em serial killers. I originally wrote a fairly long, (ostensibly) entertaining bit on how Quinnipiac is in third place, but should be eighth based on goal differential. Then I noticed the somewhat more obvious fact that QU has played more games than most of its leaguemates, and has the eighth-seed’s winning percentage. So that mystery was solved pretty quickly (though it’s nice that the goal differential and winning percentage match up. Very tidy). Instead, I’ll focus on a facet of the game that the Bobcats have damn near perfected: the penalty kill. It’s not a sexy role, covering for teammates’ mistakes, but it is a positively integral part of any successful operation: when you get penalized (and you will), you have to have an escape plan. The ‘Cats have executed such missions over 89 percent of the time, and have killed nearly 95 percent of penalties in league play. QU surrendered one PPG apiece to Harvard and Cornell, and that’s all she wrote… 0.20 PPG against per game. That’s a stellar figure.

• The big ‘Cats have been muzzled in conference action. Jeremy Langlois (12-7–19 overall), Connor Jones (5-12–17), Matthew Peca and Scott Zurevinski (4-11–15 each), Kellen Jones (5-9–14) and Yuri Bouharevich (4-8–12) did a lot of non-con damage (34-58–92 combined). Whither the league legwork? Rand Pecknold’s top six scoring threats have only broken through 10 times in those 10 games, and while that’s not a lot of goals, it’s still good enough to account for nearly half of the Bobcats’ 21 ECAC tallies. Junior goalie Eric Hartzell deserves better from his teammates: the QU ‘keeper is stopping over 93 percent of shots on goal in league play, and has held ECAC foes to well under two goals a game (1.65). And yet, he’s a mere 2-2-3 in applicable action.

• Bobcats are money in the Bank. About 2,200 people per game are finding out what there is room for another 900 folks to learn: Quinnipiac is dynamite at home. QU is 8-1-2 within the friendly confines of High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center, with the only defeat being a 1-0 thriller againt St. Lawrence in mid-November. The Bobcats are an uninspiring 3-5-1 on the road, but the greater Hamden hockey community has apparently missed the memo that the boys in blue (or white, or bright bright yellow) have out-scored their guests 41-16 and are a sure-fire hit on home ice.

Colgate

• I can finally stop banging this particular drum: Austin Smith is not, finally, the only offensive thoroughbred in the Raiders’ stable. The nation’s leading scorer (by points per game) and goal-scorer (outright) is still more than doubling any of his teammates in goals (18, 11 in league) and holds a decent edge on the rest of the Raiders in points (28/15). But his “supporting cast” is starting to break through a bit: sophomore Chris Wagner and junior Jeremy Price each have at least a point per game against ECAC opponents, and while Smith still counts for over a third of the team’s league goals (28), his total points are a much less influential fifth of the team’s ECAC production (72 total points on the roster). Smith is undeniably crucial to Colgate’s continued success this year – he’s scored a point in every game but one, the 2-0 loss at Yale – but at least he doesn’t have to do everything every game anymore.

• Colgate has learned from last season. That’s a pretty broad, imprecise statement, so at least I know no one can disagree with it. But what I’m referring to most specifically is that where the 2010-11 Raiders could not figure out how to dig themselves out of a hole, the current iteration of Hamilton Hockey has rebounded from every loss with a win. Last year’s squad was 6-20-1 in games immediately following a defeat. This time? 4-0-0, scoring at least three goals in each of those victories and winning by an aggregate score of 15-6.

• Is there a goaltending controversy brewing? Senior Alex Evin leads the country in goals against average (1.48) and save percentage (.948), and by some relatively significant margins, too… and yet, while he’s played enough minutes to qualify for the leaderboard (364:09, or just north of 35 percent of Colgate’s season to date), he is not the Raiders’ No. 1. Sophomore Eric Mihalik holds that title despite a 2.52 GAA (2.02 ECAC) and .911/.933 save rates. Don’t get me wrong, he’s played well and those are not underwhelming figures, but it’s hard not to wonder why Evin isn’t getting a little more time tending the twine.

Cornell

• Brian Ferlin is pretty good. The high-profile freshman is second on the Big Red in scoring (5-7–12 in 11 games), and even leads Cornell in league production (5-6–11). I’m not going to crown him Rookie of the Year quite yet – Harvard’s Patrick McNally is keeping things interesting – but Ferlin (a Boston Bruins prospect) is tied for second in the league in ECAC scoring overall and has delivered a lot of horsepower to what had appeared to be a lightweight Cornell attack entering the year.

• Andy Iles is a Cornell goaltender. Do I even need to explain that? He’s a rock. He’s ultra-dependable, compact and technically efficient, and he’s playing in such a way that non-Cornell fans will invariably credit Mike Schafer’s system and diminish what Iles’ talent and effort have contributed to the equation. He’s a Cornell goaltender; that’s what that means. I took a curious poke at the veracity of his Cornell-ness early in the year when he surrendered 14 goals in his first four outings (five each to Mercyhurst and Brown, no less). Since that time though, Iles has absolutely shut it down with four goals against in seven games. In his last 390:01 of playing time – dating back to a November 12 win at Dartmouth – Iles has given up two goals and notched five shutouts. Five clean sheets in six games. His save percentage over those six games is .9851. I’m not sure if or how his early-season stumbles may have informed his recent play, but he sure is making October’s big GAA seem like a figment of the imagination.

• Cornell is playing a Cornell defense. Is there a pattern here? Cornell is playing like Cornell? Well if you’ve read any of my stuff over the past few years, you won’t require further explanation. But if not: the Big Red are allowing, on average, 23.4 shots per game against the league. The league average for shots in a game is 28.7. That five-shot/game difference would equate to 40 more bids by league foes this year if the Big Red weren’t, well, the Big Red. Iles’ recent Zen-masterhood aside, with his .930 overall save percentage, the extra shots would equate to roughly three more goals against by now. Put those three goals to use in strategic spots – say, Cornell’s 0-0 draw with Clarkson, 1-0 win over St. Lawrence, and 3-2 W at Dartmouth – and all of a sudden the Big Red are 4-2-2 instead of 6-1-1. Good work, D.

Denver’s Zucker named captain of U.S. World Junior squad

USCHO Staff Report
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Denver sophomore forward Jason Zucker has been named captain of the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team.

Zucker will be playing in his third World Junior tournament, having skated with the gold medal-winning 2010 team in Saskatoon, Sask., and with the bronze medal-winning U.S. squad last year in Buffalo.

Team USA’s alternate captains are forward Emerson Etem (Medicine Hat Tigers) and defenseman Jarred Tinordi (London Knights), two U.S. NTDP alumni.

Etem also earned a bronze medal with Team USA last year, while Tinordi is making his first U.S. National Junior Team appearance.

A Merry Christmas to all, and to the first half of the season, goodnight!

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It doesn’t seem possible that it’s two days before Christmas, and it doesn’t seem possible that two days before Christmas there is a mere dusting of snow on the ground in Flint, Mich. Know what else doesn’t seem possible? A first-place Ohio State. Miami and Michigan as close to last place as first. No runaway scorer, and guys from Lake Superior State and Michigan State in the hunt to become league scoring champ.
As I sit here nearly deranged from sleep deprivation on a cold, bright Friday morning, a stack of half-graded research essays to my left and the unsent Christmas cards to my right, holiday music on the stereo, coffee never out of reach, I can’t think of anything better than to take a quick look back at the first half of the season.
You in?

The big picture

After the craziness of the offseason, anyone expecting the CCHA to roll over and die must be sadly disappointed. The league usually parts itself into three tiers, with the teams in the upper tier emerging as clear front-runners by the holiday break. With 12 points separating the team at the top from the two teams sharing the sixth-place spot — just four games either way, and seven teams in that span — this season has plenty of intrigue remaining.
In the past, the word parity has been abused shamelessly by coaches and press alike in reference to the CCHA, and that chestnut about any team being able to beat any other team on any given night has been worn to the bone, but it’s impossible to deny the reality of parity this season. Anyone who’s read me over any length of time knows that I’m fond of reminding people that equal doesn’t necessarily mean equally good, but this season it just may. If the PairWise Rankings are any indication, the CCHA is a strong league; if the season were to end today, the conference could have as many as seven teams in the NCAA tournament.
Maybe the fact that four different CCHA teams have played for an NCAA title in the past five seasons isn’t a fluke after all. Yes, I have been skeptical. Yes, the three-year Frozen Four drought left me wondering. I guess we’ll know more at the end of March.

The littler pictures

Every team has had an interesting first half. Every one of them. Here are some observations about each team — and by no means are these meant to be comprehensive. Please, chip in with your observations in the forum.
Ohio State
This team is one of the biggest surprises in college hockey so far this season. After finishing last season in ninth place with 36 points, the Buckeyes were picked in preseason to finish seventh in the coaches poll, ninth again in the media poll. Now just four points away from their total in 2010-11, the Buckeyes have the highest PWR ranking and are tied for the highest win percentage overall nationally with defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth. How have they done this? Outstanding defense, led in net by senior Cal Heeter (2.11 GAA, .926 SV%) and blue line leadership from Heeter’s classmates, Sean Duddy and Devon Krogh. The real change, of course, is the response of the team to second-year head coach Mark Osiecki, who brings a certain WCHA (a.k.a., winning) sensibility with him.
Notre Dame and Western Michigan
Each of these teams was expected to finish near the top, so it’s not surprising that the Fighting Irish and Broncos are tied for second place at the end of the first half of the season.
Nothing has surprised me about Notre Dame’s season so far. The Irish are getting scoring from sophomores T.J. Tynan (7-20–27) and Anders Lee (12-8–20) with committee-style contributions from a host of other players. At the start of the season, coach Jeff Jackson said that his team was often inaccurately characterized as a defensive team; given that the Irish are allowing 2.75 goals per game and are tied for 25th in the nation for defense, I’d say Jackson once again knew exactly what he was talking about. Goaltending has been an issue for ND, with senior Mike Johnson (2.60, .889) seeing the bulk of the action and sophomore Steven Summerhays (2.77, .878) playing a few games, but it would be unfair to lay the blame completely at the skates of the netminders. Team defense is the issue — and it’s what may sink the Irish in the end.
The only surprising thing about Western Michigan is how deftly the team has handled its transition from head coach to head coach. Considering that this year’s junior and senior Broncos are now playing with the third head coach of their short collegiate careers, that’s no small feat. Of course, first-year head coach Andy Murray was proven long before he arrived in Kalamazoo, and he kept assistants Rob Facca and Pat Ferschweiler on board — more because of what they helped accomplish with Jeff Blashill last year than merely for the purpose of transitioning. Okay, so perhaps I’m a little surprised by how well freshman Frank Slubowski (1.87, .908) and junior Nick Pisellini (2.25, .909) have performed. It’s nice to see players formerly in the CCHA shadows — junior forward Dane Walters (9-8–17) and his classmate, defenseman Matt Tennyson (5-6–11) come to mind — have such outstanding seasons, too.
Lake Superior State
All alone in fourth place, the Lakers are another very surprising team. LSSU made the most out of a favorable early schedule to jump out ahead and lead the league for a while. Early sweeps of Michigan State and Miami — two teams that played much better as the season progressed — tested the Lakers and gave them confidence, and LSSU took points in the first half from every CCHA opponent except for Ohio State. Sophomore Kevin Kapalka (2.42, .917) is following up his outstanding freshman season with solid, mature goaltending, and this is one of the big reasons why LSSU is still competitive at midseason. The team in front of Kapalka knows it can rely on him to make saves when necessary, and in turn they are producing more in front of him. While 2.65 goals scored per game on average may not seem like a lot, it’s more than the 2.38 the Lakers averaged last season. Combined with good, steady, overall play, that’s enough to make a difference in a few games this season.
Ferris State
The fifth-place Bulldogs are exactly where they usually are each season — solidly in the mix, more toward the middle of the pack. At the start of every season, coach Bob Daniels wonders where the FSU offense will come from, and he’s not being coy. Last year, it didn’t come at all. The Bulldogs averaged 2.41 goals per game; they’ve improved a bit to 2.67 this season. Junior Kyle Bonis (9-3–12) leads the team so far in goal scoring with junior Travis Ouellette (7-7–14) and senior Jordie Johnston (7-6–13) not far behind. That’s 23 of FSU’s 48 overall goals at midseason from a trio that netted 25 total in 2010-11. Of course, the one thing that gives FSU a chance to win on any given night is goaltending. Senior Taylor Nelson and freshman C.J. Motte have combined for a team goals-against average of 1.82 and team save percentage of .934.
Michigan State and Northern Michigan
To say that I’m not surprised by each of these teams tied for sixth place would be a lie — but each surprises me for different reasons.
The Spartans have certainly adjusted well to first-year head coach Tom Anastos. That they have improved isn’t the surprising part; that they have improved at near-lightning speed is. As someone who sees a lot of MSU hockey because of my proximity to East Lansing — and also as the only someone who sits in the press box that is not writing for a strictly MSU audience, unless visiting press shows up — I have no problem speaking with frankness about my skepticism regarding Anastos’ hiring. It had nothing to do with the man personally and everything to do with the hiring of someone who hadn’t coached this particular game in 20 years. Early in the season, the team was struggling to adjust to what Anastos wanted, but more importantly the team was also striving to succeed under the new head coach. Anastos wanted a more up-tempo game and he got it — often with disappointing defensive results in the early going. Now that the team defense has adjusted, the Spartans are doing the best they can with the talent they have, and the result is a competitive team that is fun to watch.
The Wildcats, like another Upper Peninsula team we know, have made the very best of an early schedule — and that is surprising, given NMU’s proclivity to come out of the gate rather slowly. The Wildcats’ winning first-half home record (7-1-3) includes a sweep of Miami, a win and a tie against Michigan and a series against Notre Dame that resulted in two ties with NMU earning extra shootout points in each contest. This early reserve of home points is something the Wildcats may need to draw upon in the second half, when four of their seven remaining CCHA series are on the road — where they have just two wins. NMU has also relied on a trio of players — seniors Tyler Gron and Justin Florek, and sophomore Stephan Vigier — for the bulk of its goals. Each player has nine, more than half the team’s total goals; no one else on the team has netted more than four.
Michigan and Miami
These two teams are a point and place apart in league standings, but somehow they seem mired in the same spot to me. Each is equally puzzling. Each has lost its defensive edge.
The eighth-place Wolverines have the fifth-best offense in the country, averaging 3.55 goals per game — and improved from last season — but defensively, Michigan has dropped from sixth to 20th. It’s an overall team defense, a lack of cohesion, that seems to be the problem. Senior Shawn Hunwick’s numbers are slightly down, but his save percentage (.917) is more than adequate.
The ninth-place RedHawks finished 2010-11 with the fourth-best offense and defense; this year, Miami is averaging 2.75 goals per game, keeping company with Bemidji State and Minnesota State in 34th place, and the RedHawks are allowing 2.70 goals per game for 22nd best. Unlike the Wolverines, the RedHawks have also been struggling between the pipes. Seniors Connor Knapp (2.70, .896) and Cody Reichard (2.52, .901), two goaltenders who formed a dominating tandem their first three seasons of CCHA play, have struggled behind an experienced defense.
Without knowing what really goes on with any given team, it may be a bit unfair to speculate about team chemistry and leadership, but that’s what comes to mind when looking at the veteran talent of each program here. The Wolverines lost Louie Caporusso, Carl Hagelin and Matt Rust to graduation — a trio of seniors last year that couldn’t have been better leaders for a very low-key, hard-working Wolverine team. The RedHawks lost Carter Camper, Pat Cannone, Vincent LoVerde, Hobey Baker winner Andy Miele and Justin Vaive to graduation — a quintet that provided the heart of Miami’s team.
What remains for each team is talent, for certain, and each team welcomed new impact players — Miami’s Austin Czarnik, Michigan’s Alex Guptill and Phil De Giuseppe — but neither team seems to have coalesced yet this season. Each team experienced an uncharacteristic five-game losing streak, and Michigan’s winless streak was seven. It will be very interesting to see how each of these squads responds in the second half.
Alaska
Another surprise is Alaska — and only because the Nanooks aren’t higher in the standings. Picked fifth in both the coaches and media CCHA preseason polls, the Nanooks are good enough to be in that top-tier mix, but their first half has been a series of near-misses. Five of Alaska’s eight CCHA losses have been by one single goal, and two of those — against Notre Dame and Michigan — came in overtime. Coach Dallas Ferguson said late in the first half that his team’s spirits are high because they’ve worked hard in every game and they know they’re competitive, but every fan of the program would like to see the Nanooks rewarded just a little more for that hard work. Senior Scott Greenham — one of the best kids in the CCHA — struggled quite a bit in the early going and was frank about his own performance; his normally solid save percentage didn’t climb above .900 until two-thirds of the first half were gone. He’s back on his game (2.18, .914), which is good news for a 10th-place team that will spend the first two weeks of January in Michigan, playing Northern and Ferris.
Bowling Green
There’s little that’s surprising about Bowling Green this season, and that’s not all bad news. The last-place Falcons are still looking for their second conference win of the season, their first and only coming against Lake Superior State Oct. 21 — and they scored just one goal in that contest to win that game. That’s part of BGSU’s story this season, a lack of offense. Last year, the Falcons were dead last nationally in that category (1.80); this year, they’re not last … but only because Canisius, Rensselaer and Alabama-Huntsville are worse, because the Falcons are still averaging 1.80 goals per game. Bowling Green is not the sum of its statistics, though. The Falcons work hard for second-year head coach Chris Bergeron, who inherited a bigger mess than he may have originally thought. A glance at the BGSU roster shows you a lot of underclassmen in a program that is rebuilding — and that’s a recipe for a long, tough first half.

Coming up

Next week, we return to regular columns on Wednesday. In that, I’ll preview the second half a little. I’ll also have picks in blog form for all of the holiday tournaments, and on Monday a chatty blog catching up on a few things.
Do write ([email protected]) or tweet (paulacweston) or join in the conversation below, please. And please have a lovely Christmas, Yule, and Hanukkah. It’s officially winter, folks, and that means the days are getting longer — and isn’t that a beautiful thing?

First-half facts and stocking stuffers

By Brian Halverson and Tyler Buckentine
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With precisely half of the WCHA’s 2011-12 season schedule in the rear view mirror as we travel to our various holiday destinations, we thought it appropriate to take a look back before visions of sugar plums begin dancing in your heads.

As we head into the first college-hockey-free weekend in nearly three months, we find the nation’s top two ranked teams also reside comfortably atop the WCHA standings. While that fact is not necessarily a surprise in and of itself, the schools maintaining those top spots were dark horse candidates at best to be there back in September.

No. 1 Minnesota Duluth and No. 2 Minnesota, who share the conference lead with 22 points, were indeed expected by many to finish consecutively in the conference standings, but the prevailing opinion was that the pairing would be found in the middle of the pack, each for different reasons.

Despite winning its first-ever national title last spring, prognosticators were skittish about UMD’s loss of such stars as Justin Faulk, Mike Connolly, and Justin Fontaine to professional hockey and the impact those losses might have.

Minnesota, on the other hand, was coming off its third straight year on the outside looking in at NCAA tournament time and would have to be reliant upon several promising, but untested rookies playing critical roles.

But Minnesota was strong out of the gate winning its first six conference games including a sweep of the Bulldogs in Duluth, thanks in no small part to freshmen like Kyle Rau and Ben Marshall. Since those home losses, though, UMD has been the hottest team in the country, unbeaten in 14 games overall (11-0-3) including a 10-0-2 mark in the WCHA to draw even with the Gophers.

UMD goaltender Kenny Reiter has been in net for the duration of the 14-game streak posting a 1.83 goals against average and .934 saves percentage in the process while senior forward Jack Connolly registered 25 of his nation-leading 29 points (12-17-29) in that stretch.

A mere six points is all that separates the seven teams positioned between third and ninth in the WCHA standings so the battle for postseason home ice will once again be fierce and likely dramatic. But we’ll touch on that more next week.

Nebraska-Omaha and its much-discussed carousel of goaltenders sits at fourth sandwiched by Colorado College (third) and Denver (fifth). While the Mavericks did end a six-game winless streak against Bemidji State, UNO has the dubious distinction of being the only team to lose to Alabama-Huntsville this season.

Although No. 6 Colorado College has yet to find the consistency that was expected of them this year, they still find themselves just four points out of first place and lead the nation in scoring offense at 4.19 goals per game. Of the Tigers’ five losses three have been by just one goal and they are just on empty-net goal from rounding that figure up to four.

Meanwhile, this season has been anything but a Rocky Mountain high for the No. 15 Denver Pioneers. Down to its third string goalie, Juho Olkinuora, while waiting for impact players like defenseman John Ryder and forward Beau Bennett to return from long-term injuries, the team picked by the media to win the league title has had to scratch and claw its way to the tail end of the top five.

Clinging to the final home-ice playoff position is No. 18 North Dakota which lost six of its first eight conference games before rebounding to go 5-1 heading into the break. Key to that surge was sophomore forward Brock Nelson who, prior to being held scoreless by Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 9-10, had scored 11 points (7-4-11) in the previous four games giving him 22 (14-8-22) on the season.

Like Nelson, St. Cloud State’s Ben Hanowski has 22 points (12-10-22) to quietly keep the Huskies in contention for home ice despite the loss of their starting goaltender (Mike Lee) and returning scoring leader (Drew LeBlanc) to what are possibly season-ending injuries, especially in Lee’s case.

SCSU shares its seventh spot with an improved, but erratic Michigan Tech Huskies team still learning how to win consistently in the WCHA under new coach Mel Pearson. Led by Brett Olson’s 19 points (6-13-19) and Josh Robinson’s improved goaltending, the Huskies spent five weeks in the top 20.

Robinson has already played nearly identical minutes to what he accumulated all of last year and has seven more wins to show for it while raising his saves percentage 30 points (.884 to .914) and lowering his goals against average by nearly two goals (4.58 to 2.72).

Although in ninth place with 12 points, the Bemidji State Beavers, as mentioned earlier, sit just six points back of third place CC at the season’s halfway point. Not surprising is that forward Jordan George (11 g, 6 a) and defenseman Brad Hunt (4 g, 13 a) lead the team in scoring with 17 points.

What stands out is freshman Adam Walsh’s 5-2-1 record in goal with a goals against average under two (1.98) and a saves percentage over 93% (.932) in eight games. In BSU’s three straight victories heading into the break, Walsh allowed just one goal on the 84 shots he faced.

After a promising 3-0-1 start in non-conference play, the 11th place Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves dropped six in a row to open the conference schedule. They have since bounced back, however, in going 3-4-1 in their last eight including a 6-3 road win at Colorado College.

To get a fair picture of the injury bug plaguing the 12th place Minnesota State Mavericks this season, one only must imagine an arc-shaped German coupe cruising recklessly around the Verizon Wireless Center ice picking off coach Troy Jutting’s players one-by-one. Once down to 11 players for a particular late-October practice, Jutting has slowly been getting his players back and the results have given cause for cautious optimism. A pair of close contests at Minnesota (both losses) and an overtime loss to Colorado College at home in recent weeks have given Mavs fans glimmers of hope for a better second half.

Sconnie’s studs and duds
Wisconsin’s Justin Schultz (9-19—28) is the best offensive defenseman in the WCHA this season and was one of the league’s highest-scoring D-men last year as a freshman. He’s the WCHA’s second-highest overall scorer. No. 3 in overall scoring is his teammate Mark Zengerle (8-19–27).

Zengerle’s linemate, Tyler Barnes (18 points) and second-line winger Michael Mersch (15 points) have also sparked a Badgers offense that sits in the middle of the pack (3.17 goals per game).

But it’s a diseased goaltending situation that’s kept the Badgers near the bottom of the WCHA standings at 10th place. Joel Rumpel (.902 save percentage, 3.12 GAA, 11 GP) has begun to take over the goaltending duties, starting three of the last four games. He split much of the time with fellow freshman Landon Peterson (.884 SV%, 3.46 GAA, 8 GP) through the first half.

What it all accumulates to is a team that has an goals scored average that ranks in top half of the WCHA but defense/goaltending that can’t support it. Gabe Grunwald is Wisconsin’s only committed goalie, scheduled to join the Badgers in 2013. The 18-year-old from Chappaqua, N.Y. has struggled through six games this season for the Michigan Warriors of the NAHL with an .871 save percentage and a 4.56 goals against average.

It looks like the near future of Wisconsin hockey depends on the drastic improvement of its freshmen goalies, Rumpel and Peterson.

So much has been made of the 10th-place Badgers’ youth before and during the season one could be forgiven if “The Young” were to precede any mention of them. The Young Badgers have shown to be creatures of comfort as evidenced by their 0-5-1 record away from home and 7-4-1 mark at the Kohl Center.

UND turning the corner
North Dakota caught a lot of flak when it suffered its third shutout of the season in a lackluster offensive effort Nov. 20 at Bemidji State. The final was 1-0 Beavers that afternoon and the Fighting Sioux offense was brought into question with the struggles it went through in the two weeks leading up to the BSU series — five goals in four games.

When UND faced off against CC the day after Thanksgiving, it took Danny Kristo 36 seconds to score, marking the beginning of the end of the Sioux skid. UND went on to score seven goals that night in a 7-6 win and scored 13 goals in its next three games but only scored twice in a split Dec. 9-10 against Nebraska-Omaha.

The Sioux needs scoring from outside the Nelson/Kristo/Knight line to step up and provide some offensive firepower if UND is going to keep its momentum into the second half. And depending how long Knight is out with a lower-body injury, the Sioux will be without one of the best playmakers in the WCHA.

It helps that that Aaron Dell found a groove after his rocky start to the season. Since the Sioux lost 4-0 to St. Cloud State on Oct. 28, Dell has allowed more than one goal in a game just once.

Party between the pipes
At this point, 18 goaltenders have gotten playing time for WCHA teams and five of the 12 teams are regularly using a different goalie other than their opening night starter.
Minnesota’s Kent Patterson (only goalie to play for Gophers this season) and UMD’s Kenny Reiter (played 17 of UMD’s 18 games) are the two biggest constants in goal.

UAA opening-day starter Rob Gunderson (.882 SV%, 3.48 GAA) has split a lot of time with Chris Kamal (.880 SV%, 3.25 GAA) but has taken over the majority of the duties lately. Dan Bakala (.905 SV%, 2.87 GAA) has been a mainstay for BSU, and even though MSU’s Austin Lee (.909 SV%, 3.09 GAA) has struggled but his partner Phil Cook (.791 SV%, 6.88 GAA) has had a nightmare of a season. Dell (.895 SV%, 2.80 GAA) eventually won his job back for UND although Brad Eidsness (.918 SV%, 2.43 GAA) has the better numbers.

Josh Thorimbert (.912 SV%, 2.76 GAA) started both games for CC last weekend at MSU, taking over for a struggling Joe Howe (.883 SV%, 2.76 GAA).

And some goalie changes came from injury, like in Denver where opening-night starter, Adam Murray (.902 SV%, 3.40 GAA), was injured a few weeks ago. Juho Olkinuora (.914 SV%, 2.41 GAA) has done a great job filling in. Ryan Faragher (.907 SV%, 2.91 GAA) had to fill in when Mike Lee (.896 SV%, 3.94 GAA) went down in an October practice.

Between the Dots . . .

After allowing an average of 3.9 goals per game over its first seven games this season, North Dakota has chopped that figure nearly in half (2.1 gpg) in its last 11 . . . Nebraska-Omaha’s penalty killers have not allowed a power-play goal in six straight games (16 for 16) . . . Wisconsin junior defenseman, and Hobey Baker candidate, Justin Schultz’s six-game point-scoring streak gives him 97 for his career leaving him on the cusp of becoming the first UW defenseman since Brian Rafalski in 1994-95 to surpass 100 points for a career . . . Sophomore Nick Jensen’s three goals on Dec. 17 in a 5-1 St. Cloud State victory over Denver marked the first hat trick by an SCSU defenseman since long-time NHL blueliner Bret Hedican accomplished the feat on Feb. 15, 1991 against Wisconsin at the National Hockey Center . . . Junior forward Mickey Spencer leads Alaska Anchorage  in five categories – points (10), goals (7), shots (39), shot percentage (.179) and penalty minutes (29) . . . With 16 goals in 15 games, Colorado College junior center Rylan Schwartz leads the nation with a 1.07 goals per game average . . . Minnesota-Duluth is home to the NCAA’s highest-scoring senior class. UMD seniors have combined for 88 points (31-57-88) which is 21 more than their nearest competitor, Robert Morris University . . . Senior Michael Dorr’s three shorthanded goals this season for Minnesota State ranks second in the nation to Colgate’s Austin Smith (5 shg). The Mavericks’ seven shorthanded goals as a team ties them with Boston University for the NCAA Div. 1 lead but, remarkably, all seven MSU shorties have come in just its last 12 contests . . .  Up next for Michigan Tech is the 47th Great Lakes Invitational featuring the Huskies, Michigan, Michigan State, and Boston College this year. MTU’s 9-9-1 record means the Huskies will carry a .500 record into the GLI for the first time since 1997-98, when they were 9-8-2 en route to a 17-20-3 finish . . . Not only has Bemidji State done a nice job of limiting its opponents power-play opportunities, goals have been difficult to come by when the Beavers are down a man. BSU’s 12.3 penalty minutes per game average is 10th in the league while the Beavers are killing penalties at a conference-leading rate of 86% (74 of 86) . . . Denver University freshman Joey LaLeggia leads NCAA rookie defensemen in goals (6) and points (13) . . . After struggling to stay in the lineup as a freshman (one assist in 13 games played), Minnesota sophomore defenseman Nate Schmidt is having a breakout season. Schmidt is second only to Wisconsin’s Schultz in overall points by a defenseman with 21 and leads the nation’s blueliners with 20 assists.

ECAC Hockey’s three things: Holiday edition (part 2 of 3)

By
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Still with me? Great. Now that we’re through the “road trip quartet”, we move on to the middlers of the league. It’s a tight fit on the tables again this year, so remember: the teams are arranged by current position, not predicted playoff seed or any such nonsense.

St. Lawrence

• This has been a trying term for the Saints. It was the first time in 26 years that St. Lawrence opened a season without the iconic Joe Marsh behind the bench, as the omnipresent coach took a medical leave-of-absence that continues to date. The team returned a lot of skill and talent, but isn’t quite a “veteran” team that was capable of guiding and mediating itself out of the gate. As such, SLU dropped its first five contests (albeit against some very stiff competition) before finally bagging its first win against the catastrophically goal-starved Engineers. Results have been a mixed bag since then – a three-game and two two-game winning streaks, plus a four-L slide in the middle. It’s a sign of a team learning how to win and exactly what it takes to do so at this level.

• SLU has a young pattern of losing big, but winning tight. To whit, the Saints’ average loss this year has come by 2.5 goals. Their average winning margin is merely 1.43. (Granted, the Cantonites lost 10-3 to Michigan, but stats are stats.) One possible explanation for this phenomenon: SLU’s losses have come at the hands of Ferris State, Michigan, Union, Colgate, and Cornell, among others – all strong teams – and not all of those defeats were by wide margins, either. But you can’t expect inexperienced teams to hang tough with such foes early in a season, so perhaps fatigue and/or fatalism effected the outcome (SLU has allowed 22 goals in the third period, compared to 14 in the first and 17 in the second). The Skatin’ Saints are gradually coming around to the realities and expectations of a D-I, ECAC Hockey schedule, so as the wins begin to outnumber the losses, so too should arrive a bit of killer instinct and resilience that will swing the aforementioned stats into a more desirable place.

• Depth is keeping the Saints afloat. SLU has been spared cataclysmic injuries (see: Princeton, 2009-10) but is nonetheless suffering through a couple key losses in dynamic defenseman George Hughes and leading sniper Kyle Flanagan. The latter still leads the team in goals (six, tied with frosh Chris Martin) and points (13, outright) despite playing in only nine of the team’s 17 games. Hughes leads the Saints’ D corps in scoring (1-5–6) in a dozen appearances following his 4-17–21 statline last year and 5-18–23 line his rookie season. In the meantime, some old-reliables have teamed up with some surprise scorers to shoulder the load: sophomore Greg Carey has registered three goals and 11 points thus far; Martin, Jacob Drewiske and Kyle Essery (he of the “brutal hair”) are chipping in with goals; and only three players with games played – totaling 21 between them – are point-less at this juncture.

Clarkson

• David Leggio is back! Well, not really. But Paul Karpowich is allowing ‘Tech fans to relive the warm, fuzzy pleasure of having a truly stalwart talent tending the Green & Gold’s cage. The senior is having by far his best campaign to date, holding a .938 overall save percentage (second in D-I to Colgate’s Alex Evin) and 1.93 goals against average (ninth) in 20 games. His numbers get even better against conference foes, to the tune of .945/1.76 (best, and third-best in the league, respectively). He has played every goaltending minute of Clarkson’s season (1,210:24 so far, the most in the nation), but despite the workload he has only tossed four sub-.900 SvP games (in which the opposition scores on more than 10 percent of its shots). With his defense, Karpowich and Clarkson rank fifth in the country for stinginess (2.05 goals against per game as a team). Suffice to say, PaKo or Karpo or whatever you choose to call him has been arguably the league’s MVP to date.

• Corey Tamblyn: load-bearer? The senior center anchored the Knights’ top line with Jake Morley and Will Frederick in CCT’s last three outings, and is proving himself to be more than a mere secondary scorer. Tamblyn is, in fact, well on his way to having a career year with seven goals overall already and a team-leading six points in ECAC competition. Classmates Nick Tremblay (nine goals) and Louke Oakley (seven) and sophomore Allan McPherson (six) are lighting the lamp with some regularity as well, but Tamblyn’s production has been a true bonus: his best output to date had been an eight-goal, 16-point sophomore campaign that he looks all but assured of surpassing in this, his ultimate year of eligibility.

• Sexton’s return can’t come soon enough. Sure, the Knights have been able to scrape by since the sophomore’s October 29 injury – ‘Tech is 4-6-2 since then – but Ben Sexton’s presence in the lineup makes an absolutely critical difference to the nature and viability of the Golden Knight’s attack. Specifically, the team was 12 for 44 (27 percent) on the power play before losing Sexton to the DL; since then, the Knights have been a punchless 4/50 (eight percent). Despite appearing in only eight of his program’s 20 games this year, Sexton remains sixth on the team in overall scoring with three goals (all on the power play) and nine points.

Harvard

• The Crimson have finally defeated gravity. It’s been four years since Harvard was last above .500 after ten games (or at the holiday break); the Cantabs were 6-3-1 late in the fall of 2007 (6-4-2 by Christmas) and ultimately finished 17-13-4 (12-7-3 ECAC, third place). That squad played for the tournament title in Albany, falling 4-1 to Princeton. Such a fate would be heartily welcomed in Cambridge, as three straight editions of Crimson icers have finished sub-.400 for the season. At this point, the Crimson are 4-3-3 with wins over Colgate, Clarkson, New Hampshire and Princeton. The next hurdle is a mighty one: not only is the team on the road for the next four games, but those contests are being played at North Dakota (twice), Union, and Rensselaer. The squad then returns home – hopefully with a few league points, if not more – to face Union once more, then Boston University… then on the road again for this year’s Brutal Road Trip at Colgate and Cornell. Through each of the last four winters, there have been massive, smoking craters in the Harvard schedule… if the boys are going for five in a row, here’s where you’ll stumble across the next blast site. If Harvard has any… and I mean any juice left for Yale on January 27, then you’ll have to like their odds down the home stretch.

• Harvard is swimming in the deep end. Not just schedule-wise, now, but production-wise as well. As I’ve pointed out before, the Crimson finally have some secondary scoring to complement Alex Killorn and Danny Biega. (Side note: Biega never should’ve been “complemented”; he’s a defenseman. That’s just how desperate past Harvard squads have been for offense.) Senior center Killorn leads the team with six goals overall, but he has nine other multi-goal scorers already, whereas last year’s roster featured only a dozen such “snipers” by season’s end. Rookie blue-liner Patrick McNally may be a complement to Biega after all, sitting at third on the team in scoring with three goals and a dozen points in 10 games overall; junior Alex Fallstrom is having a breakout year with three goals and six helpers in eight appearances.

• The jury is still out on Michalek. The freshman goalie was the heir-apparent to coach Ted Donato’s No. 1 spot, and he hasn’t lost it… but he hasn’t put a choke-hold on the thing, either. With sophomores Connor Riley (zero career appearances) and Raphael Girard (last year’s third-stringer) behind him, the well-regarded Minnesota Wild prospect has posted uninspiring numbers in his first semester of D-I action: .898/3.10 overall, .906/2.83 in league play. Nothing against Riley or Girard – the latter has excellent taste in artwork, for one thing – but maybe there’s really something to be said for winning your starts in practice. Michalek’s career is just beginning, but he would probably benefit quite a bit from some veteran competition.

Union

• The Dutch aren’t afraid to play ’em tight… when they have to. Union has already played six overtime games in 17 total contests (and are 0-1-5 in OT), in addition to two more one-goal games (1-1)… and yet, the Schenectady squad is third in the nation in average scoring margin (+1.47). How does that happen? Well, in their eight other wins (excluding OT and one-goal victories), the Dutch won by an average of 3.63 goals. Factor in that they suffered only one “blowout” loss – 4-0 to Yale – and you’ve got yourself a pretty healthy differential.

• Hotel beds must put dorm beds to shame, or something. Somehow, the Dutchmen are 1-2-2 at Messa Rink, but 8-1-3 on the road (lone loss: a 2-1 OT decision at New Hampshire). Not sure how that happens, but coach Rick Bennett had better get that sorted out in a hurry: nine of the UC’s remaining 15 league games are at the Achilles Center. On the bright side, at least Union fans will worry less about the road factor as the team travels to Colorado later this month to tangle with Denver and Colorado College. The Dutch will be feeling great about their chances after stifling once-No. 1 Merrimack (now No. 7) in North Andover, Mass. last week.

• Union’s offense is big, broad, and bad. “Depth” is a term I’ve been using with some frequency this week, and Union exemplifies its application as well as anyone in the league. Jeremy Welsh is leading the team with a dozen goals and 17 points in 16 games, but he is way, waaay down the page at 45th in the nation with 1.06 points per game. However, Union’s power play is ninth in the country (23.6 percent). The offense is tied for 11th with 3.35 goals a game. That is all possible because Bennett has a stable of 10 different players who are averaging at least half a point per game, eight of whom are regular skaters. The defense is clearly a strength with four upperclassmen manning the blue line, and second-year goalie Troy Grosenick is making people forget about Keith Kinkaid very, very quickly: Grosenick’s save percentage is .932 overall, and he is holding both league and non-conference opponents to well under two goals a game on average.

Look for the top four teams on the table tomorrow morning, and don’t forget to check Nate and I out on the Twitter machine.

Colorado College’s Schwartz to captain Team Canada at World Juniors

USCHO Staff Report
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Colorado College sophomore Jaden Schwartz, the lone collegian on this year’s Canadian World Junior team, will wear the ‘C’ for Team Canada.

“Last year was tough, obviously getting hurt and then that third period against Russia,” Schwartz said to the Canadian Press. “You try to forget last year, but at the same time, you want to learn from it. This year is a whole new group of guys, new faces, new team and everything like that. There’s enough motivation just being here. We’re all here to win gold and that’s the bottom line.”

Schwartz from Wilcox, Sask., is one of four returnees that won silver in Buffalo with the Canadians, losing in the championship game to Russia.

During the tournament last year, Schwartz’s sister, Mandi, a former player at Yale, was undergoing leukemia treatment. She later passed away in April.

“Last year was tough, me getting injured and obviously more important with Mandi,” added Schwartz. “She was pretty sick at that time. Last year was very, very difficult and it was a hard time for all of us.

“It was the hardest thing I had to go through and probably one of the hardest things I’ll ever go through. It’s very difficult, but family and friends get you through times like that and thankfully. they’re always there for me.”

This season with the Tigers, Schwartz is second in team scoring with five goals and 18 points in 13 games, five points off the team lead of his older brother, Rylan.

Traveling Russian team no stranger to long trips

By Dave Saunders
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It is approximately 5,000 miles from Moscow to Grand Forks, N.D., but traveling like they did for the first of a series of exhibition games in the United States is nothing new for players from the the visiting Russian Red Stars.

The Red Stars are players chosen from teams within the Molodezhnaya Hokkeinaya Liga, sometimes called the Youth Hockey League or the Minor Hockey League. Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania and Slovakia all have teams in the MHL, which spans nine time zones.

“Geographically, we are the biggest junior league in the world,” MHL commissioner Dmitri Efimov said from Moscow before the team traveled to the U.S. for the tour.

Efimov made it clear that the Red Stars have goals for the exhibition games.

“We are hoping these opportunities will better prepare players for future international competitions,” he said. “There is no doubt that some of these players will someday represent Russia in important international games.”

The Red Stars are scheduled for six games against college teams and another two against North American Hockey League opponents on a trip that runs through Jan. 5.

They resume the college portion of the schedule at Vermont on Dec. 27, and also have set games at Yale (Dec. 28), Northern Michigan (Dec. 30), Notre Dame (Jan. 3) and Massachusetts-Lowell (Jan. 5).

The MHL is in its third year of existence, and it is growing — from 22 teams in 2009-10 to 32 teams this year. The MHL is an under-22 league with a maximum of three 21-year-olds per team.

“Previously, many players were forced to retire from high-level hockey because there was nowhere for them to play,” Efimov said. “There were many very good players that graduated from school teams but they were not yet ready for the KHL.”

Many of the MHL teams are affiliated with the Kontinental Hockey League, generally regarded as the world’s second-best professional league. This affiliation has similarities to the one between the NHL and the AHL — there have been times that teams not making the KHL playoffs have sent age-eligible players to their affiliated MHL teams for their playoffs.

In the MHL’s inaugural season, the KHL’s Metallurg Novokuznetsk sent Dmitri Orlov, Sergei Bobrovsky and Maxim Kitsyn to their junior affiliate Kuznetsk Bears. Orlov now is a defenseman with the Washington Capitals, Bobrovsky a goaltender with the Philadelphia Flyers and Kitsyn a Los Angeles Kings draft pick that went on to play major junior for Mississauga of the OHL last year and has since returned to the KHL.

Those players helped the eighth-seeded Bears make it to the league final. Last year Red Army’s junior affiliate won the Kharlamov Cup (named after legendary Russian player Valery Kharlamov) after Sergei Gaiduchenko, Sergei Andronov and Mikhail Pashnin, who played the whole season for Red Army’s KHL team, were added to their lineup.

Before the KHL, the best league for older players was the Vysshaya Hokkeinaya Liga, referred to as the Major League. The VHL is now affiliated with the second tier of the MHL, which is comprised of 19 teams.

“The players in the MHL are very busy with play and travel, so a job or full-time schooling is not an option for them,” Efimov said. “A few continue to take classes but online courses are not nearly as popular in Russia as in North America.”

Attendance in the league is on the rise, especially where the MHL team provides the only game in town.

In the most recent NHL draft, six players with significant ice time in the league were taken: Second-rounder Nikita Kucherov, Maxim Shalunov, Yaroslav Kosov, Nikita Nesterov, Daniil Sobchenko and Alexei Marchenko all played most of their 2010-11 season in the league.

Last year, the Red Stars played Yale and Army along with three Canadian junior teams, with Yale being the only team to beat the Red Stars.

The tour opened with a 5-1 loss to North Dakota on Dec. 17, but the Red Stars are hoping to get stronger as the tour goes on. The travel and the unfamiliarity of players and coaches with each other will no doubt be a factor.

Efimov said he is appreciative of the efforts of Paul Kelly and the staff of College Hockey Inc. to assist with the tour. Efimov is aware that some players blossom late and is glad there is now a league for players to continue to develop.

College hockey fans can probably relate: Undrafted college players can be found across the NHL.

So is it possible that one of the touring Red Stars will find a spot in Division I hockey?

“It is a possibility, but the language barrier is huge,” said Efimov, who attended the University of Pittsburgh. “What we don’t want to see is a Russian player coming to North America and things not working out. There have been some very good players come to North America for junior and professional opportunities and, while many have thrived, for others things didn’t go well.”

ECAC Hockey’s three things: Holiday edition (part 1 of 3)

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We muddle together some form of a “three things we learned” update on the blog at the conclusion of each weekend’s action, but now that we’re halfway through the season (yes, really), I figured I’d kick it up a notch (bam) and dish out triple-portions of piping perspicacity for each of ECAC Hockey’s dozen denizens.

I’m not going to list the schools alphabetically – as I generally do – but rather from the bottom of the league standings on up: this way, RPI and Princeton fans can (continue to) beat the traffic. Here’s the first/bottom/heaviest third of the league; the top eight will follow in near-future posts.

Rensselaer

• Scoring is good, but health is better. Goals don’t come any easier when forwards are falling to injury left and right. During one three-week stretch, the Engineers had all four of their regular centers out simultaneously, and head coach Seth Appert estimates well north of 40 man-games lost already. Appert’s necessary lineup contortions remind me of a trip to Europe with a bunch of North American electronics and no converter: short-outs, power outages, inability to achieve desired results, small fires… all in all, a disastrous voyage from start to finish.

• Don’t blame the goalies. Junior Bryce Merriam and rookie Scott Diebold have performed well despite little offensive support, and there’s a lot to be said for consistent achievement in the face of unlikely success. Together, the netminding tandem has maintained a top-half 2.42 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. Confused by the team stats? The numbers don’t jive because RPI has allowed nine empty-net goals… more than Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Union combined (eight). (The Raiders, Red, Crimson, nor Dutchmen have allowed any ENG’s this year; the rest of the league has given up two each, with the exception of Yale [3].)

• Don’t lump the special teams together. Just because the power play and penalty killing units each fall under the category of “special teams” doesn’t mean they should be judged as a singularity. RPI’s power play is predictably dismal, scoring just seven times in 75 opportunities to date. (That said, Dartmouth’s PP percentage is even worse, at 5.7 percent overall.) The Engineer “advantage” is one of only six in the nation to fall beneath the 10 percent mark. The PK, on the other hand, is churning out kills at a robust 87.5 percent pace (77 of 88), good for 11th in the land. If the previous points didn’t make it crystal clear already, let me lay it out slowly… in small words: RPI will have… to win… with defense.

Brown

• The young are restless. Bruno’s youth movement has been entertaining to watch, but infuriating to predict on a game-to-game basis. The Bears looked promising on the heels of November 11’s 2-1 win at Union – their second straight league win, both over ranked opponents (beating Cornell 5-4 the week before). But then Brown was banished from RPI’s Houston Field House without a goal, falling 1-0, and they haven’t been above .500 since. Following 14 goals in their first five games (3-2-0), the Bears scored just once in their proceeding four outings (0-3-1), but then opened the throttle again with nine goals in a home-and-home with Yale earlier this month. Meehan should have a warning on the door, discouraging attendance by fans with heart conditions or who may be pregnant.

• Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Among head coach Brendan Whittet’s 18 underclassmen is rookie forward Matt Lorito, who broke the lineup three games ago following a preseason broken wrist. Whittet remarked on him in particular before the season began (“He’s one that I expect will come to the forefront in terms of being able to put up points at this level, and being a guy that we lean on,”) and Lorito did not disappoint with two assists and a +3 rating in a 6-4 upset of Yale on December 3.

• This year’s Bears are free to roam. Last year, a Harry Zolnierczyk-fueled Bruno squad placed ninth (as in ninth-most, or ninth-most-undesirable position) in the nation in penalty minutes per game, with 17.1. This year, they’re all the way down at 45th with only 12.1… a full major-penalty’s worth, knocked right off the sheets. Coincidence? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

Princeton

• Losing in bunches is bad. The Tigers have nine losses so far, but they’ve preferred to acquire them as if they were shopping for bananas: who only picks up one at a time? Through the end of the first semester Princeton had saddled itself with 0-2-1, 0-2-0, 0-3-0, and another 0-2-1 skids. It’s not good for confidence of (or under) a new coach or with a young squad, but by the same token it’s likely a vicious cycle of inexperience and tough defeats. The Stripes are 2-5-2 in one-goal(-or-tighter) games, 2-4-0 otherwise, so realistically they’re performing about as well in the tight games as could be expected. The real solution to their troubles would be to draw first blood, as Princeton has been scored on first in 11 of their 15 outings.

• Rob Kleebaum is finally stepping up. Not that the junior forward was holding back previously: the poor dude was hurt practically all of last year, so by games-played he’s hardly a junior… he’s more like a soph-plus, if you will. (“Super-soph”, maybe?) In any case, the third-year winger has potted a team-lead-sharing six goals so far (knotting him with “true” sophomore and opposing wing Jack Berger), and finishes off what is by far Princeton’s most imposing line, centered by sophomore Andrew Calof.

• This is likely a “rebuilding” year. While it’s tough to say that about any team, it’s probably true for the Tigers. New coach, only nine upperclassmen, and middling preseason prognostications give this squad a lot of room to grow without the ever-needling presence of external expectations. Though it can be frustrating for players, coaches and fans to suffer through perhaps a whole season of inconsistency, there appears to be a very lucent lining trimming the dashers at Baker Rink. The (three-man) senior class has contributed four goals and 12 points to the team’s summed 35-58–93 line, meaning that although the youngsters are still acclimating, they have already established themselves as capable of supporting the team as a whole.

Dartmouth

• Something funny is going down ‘tween the pipes. Seniors James Mello and Jody O’Neill have combined for over 90 percent of the Big Green’s goaltending minutes this year, with Mello getting about four times as much playing time as O’Neill. And yet, Mello’s numbers aren’t bearing the No. 1 mantle in which he’s draped: his save percentage is a sub-par .898 overall (.892 in league play), and his goals against average is 2.99/3.36 (ECAC) compared to O’Neill’s .922/2.02 figures (both league and overall). I’m not saying that I question veteran leader Bob Gaudet, but I’m sure that he and his staff must be seeing something I’m not vis-a-vis Dartmouth’s goaltending options.

• The offense is a surprise struggle. Entering the season, I thought the Green were in pretty good position to make a run at a first-round bye, if not more. Veteran classes are well-represented on the roster, the 2010-11 team achieved beyond expectations on the wings of electric young talent, and the back end appeared to be in good hands with either Mello or O’Neill sure to make things right. So what happened? Obviously, this year is by no means a failure… but it’s a far cry from success, too. Beyond DC’s goaltending woes, the offense is scoring at nigh on a point-per-game slower pace than last year’s squad. With a mean just over two and a half goals a game to date, last year’s 3.3 GPG makes me wince while pondering how much things have actually changed since last March. Perhaps I put too much blind faith in Dartmouth’s depth, for Scott Fleming, Adam Estoclet, Matt Reber and Evan Stephens sure could come in handy right about now.

• That said, the Green still pack a mean one-two punch. That double-whammy comes in the form of sophomore Eric Robinson and freshman Tyler Sikura. They each boast nine points in 11 games, with Sikura leading the team in goals (six) and Robinson hot on his tail with five. Whereas you might expect many teams with offensive concerns to pair the right-wing Robinson with pivot-man Sikura, Gaudet prefers to split the talented producers – the “veteran” Robinson (with 36 career games to his credit) starts on the top line with left wing senior Doug Jones and soph center Matt Lindblad, while Sikura most recently anchored classmates Brandon McNally on the left and Eric Neiley on the right.

As always, follow myself and co-correspondent Nate Owen on Twitter.

U.S. National Junior Team roster has heavy NCAA feel once again

USCHO Staff Report
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USA Hockey announced its final roster Thursday for the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championship in Edmonton and Calgary and the roster is again NCAA-heavy.

Forwards Nick Bjugstad (Minnesota), Charlie Coyle (Boston University) and Jason Zucker (Denver) and defensemen Derek Forbort (North Dakota) and Jon Merrill (Michigan) return from last year’s bronze medal-winning team.

Also up front from NCAA schools are Josh Archibald (Nebraska-Omaha), Bill Arnold (Boston College), Connor Brickley (Vermont), Austin Czarnik (Miami), Kyle Rau (Minnesota) and T.J. Tynan (Notre Dame).

The rest of the forwards are Emerson Etem (Medicine Hat/WHL), one-time North Dakota recruit J.T. Miller (Plymouth/OHL), Brandon Saad (Saginaw/OHL) and one-time Maine commit Austin Watson (Peterborough/OHL).

On defense, the returnees are joined by Adam Clendening (Boston University), Kevin Gravel (St. Cloud State), Stephen Johns (Notre Dame) and Michigan recruit Jacob Trouba, the youngest player on the team and a member of the U.S. NTDP’s Under-18 Team.

Jarred Tinordi (London/OHL) rounds out the blue line.

Jack Campbell (Sault Ste. Marie/OHL) and John Gibson (Kitchener/OHL) are the goaltenders for this year’s squad and both coincidentally were one-time Michigan commitments. Cornell goalie Andy Iles is Team USA’s emergency goaltender.

The U.S. opens the tournament on Monday, Dec. 26 against Denmark at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

Mercyhurst continues to best opponents and NCAA records

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When asked to identify the weakest of the four conferences, without hesitation, most fans would say the CHA. The popular answer is not always the correct answer.

Thus far this season, if excluding games against independents Lindenwood and Sacred Heart, teams from the CHA are four games over .500. By comparison, Hockey East squads have compiled a collective record five games below .500 with the same exclusions, and teams out of the ECAC are 17 games under.

Looked at another way, CHA representatives have advanced to the NCAA title game once, Mercyhurst in 2009. Boston University last season was Hockey East’s first foray to the championship game, and while the ECAC has several such appearances, only Cornell in 2010 played for the title in the last six years.

Of course, much of the success of the CHA occurs in Erie, Penn., home of the Lakers. Mercyhurst has put together a streak of seven straight NCAA tournament berths, a mark that is shared with Minnesota-Duluth and is still active for both. Accomplishing the feat without the safety net of an automatic bid to the tournament makes the Lakers’ run all the more impressive.

“The nice thing with us and our program, and it is a challenge, is the cupboard is never completely bare,” coach Mike Sisti said. “I think any quality program, you need that. I think that we’ve had so many great players here, and it has helped us in so many ways. Fortunately, as they move on, a combination of the younger players that learn from them that move into leadership roles and handle that well, and certainly the new players get thrown into the fire being able to pull their weight and perform well, has been the key to our success.”

This season was one of the more challenging in that regard, given Mercyhurst’s losses last season to graduation. When the team dropped a game in each of its first two series of the season, the string of NCAA bids looked to be in jeopardy.

“We knew we’d be very young; we lost about 800 or 900 points out of our lineup,” Sisti said. “Over the years, our program has done a great job of replacing great players. Each year and team are different. We’ve been able to find whatever way is necessary for a particular team to win, given their strengths or weaknesses.”

Christine Bestland of Mercyhurst (Tim Brule)
Christine Bestland (Mercyhurst Athletics)

After a loss to Minnesota State dropped the Lakers’ record to 1-2, they regrouped and rattled off nine straight wins heading into a crucial series hosting No. 3 Cornell. The contest was Mercyhurst’s first against a team currently ranked in the top 10, but the team proved itself ready by scoring the game’s first two goals and taking a 3-1 lead early in the second period.

“Our teams are always prepared to play,” Sisti said. “That’s a credit to my staff and a credit to the players, who really absorb whatever we give them. This team has learned so much. When you have a lot of new people, there’s just so many things to teach them, from the basics to any complex tweaks or whatever you need to win a particular weekend. This team has been real diligent in how they go about their business, their work ethic, and really listen to what we’re giving them and applying it come game day. Those games, we put in some tweaks, and they handled it well and really played well.”

The Big Red stormed back, scoring three times in just over 10 minutes in the middle frame, and claimed a 5-4 decision on a late goal from Laura Fortino.

“In the second period, we took some untimely penalties, and they got a couple key goals there to get rolling,” Sisti said. “Even with that game, we had chances late to come back. We tied the game, and obviously, they won it in the last minute. It was a really exciting college hockey game for the fans. It could have went either way. When you’ve got a team with so many game breakers that they have, they’re never out of a game, and that’s what happens on some nights.”

In the rematch with Cornell, the Lakers didn’t settle for the moral victory of playing well, but did the things necessary to skate to a 5-2 triumph.

“In game one, as well as we played, we made enough mistakes that a real good team took advantage of,” Sisti said. “In game two, I guess if there was a difference, we just made less of those mistakes. Not that we still didn’t make some. We got some great saves both nights, but goaltending was awesome night two, and we just made less mistakes. We were able to make sure they never got as close game two.”

After not facing a top team for the season’s first two months, Mercyhurst met them on successive weekends, traveling to Boston for a pair of games with No. 4 Boston College.

“I think we did not play nearly as good the second weekend,” Sisti said. “Usually in games, you can get away with one or two players not playing their best, but it was just an off night for a lot of our players. A lot of credit goes to BC, too. They had a lot of energy. I think it was just one of those weekends where you do get in the term where a lot of players on your team don’t quite have it on a particular weekend. Even there, our team fought hard. We had a chance to tie it late and gave up an open-net goal in the first game.”

As in the Cornell series, the Lakers lost the opener, as Alex Carpenter’s empty-netter sealed a 4-2 BC win. With tournament aspirations and a 1-2 mark over its first three games against opponents in the Teams Under Consideration category, No. 5 Mercyhurst knew salvaging points was critical in the conclusion of the series with the Eagles.

“They are a team; they really support each other and they don’t point fingers at each other in tough times, and they don’t give up,” Sisti said. “They’ve been fun to coach, because as young as they are, they’re all pulling together and they believe they can win games, and that’s a big part of it. That’s why certainly after game one that we knew our backs were against the wall and the team challenged themselves and we got tremendous goaltending, which is key. Our special teams answered the bell, and obviously, we were able to win the game.”

Mercyhurst earned a 3-2 victory on the strength of two power-play goals and Wayne State transfer Jill Szandzik’s game-winner at 3:01 of overtime.

The win was senior goaltender Hillary Pattenden’s 91st in her Mercyhurst career, matching the mark that Wisconsin’s Jessie Vetter established in the 2009 championship, ironically at the expense of the Lakers. On December 14, Pattenden set a new NCAA record with win 92 as Mercyhurst blanked Lindenwood, 9-0.

“It’s been nice over the course of our program to have some NCAA records and some team awards,” Sisti said.

Hillary Pattenden from Mercyhurst (Tim Brule)
Hillary Pattenden (Mercyhurst Athletics)

He believes Pattenden, whom he calls a great competitor, is certainly deserving of the record.

“She’s a great person,” Sisti said. “There’s never been a player that we’ve had that has said a bad word about her.”

Sisti describes Pattenden as quiet, but she also knows when the situation calls for something to be said.

“When she speaks, people listen,” he said.

Much of the recognition of Mercyhurst players over the years has come at the other end of the ice. Meghan Agosta tallied an NCAA record 303 points in her career, and was voted a Patty Kazmaier top-three finalist all four years. Forward Vicki Bendus, who was a star in the classroom as well as on the ice, took home the Kazmaier Award in 2010.

Again this season, a number of Lakers are emerging as candidates for Kazmaier or All-American honors.

“[Senior Kelley] Steadman is having an awesome year,” Sisti said. “[Christine] Bestland is only a sophomore, but we give her a lot of responsibility. Pam Zgoda, our captain on ‘D’, is anchoring a young ‘D’ corps. Certainly with [Bailey] Bram and Jess Jones and Steadman up front, they play in every situation. They are seasoned veterans. Jess Jones is really — a credit to her, she’s had two knee surgeries on both knees, and that kid never gives up and can do absolutely everything for us and is such a smart hockey player, and obviously doing a great job leading for us as well. I think Bailey clearly deserves a long look at the Patty Kazmaier this year, along with some other great players across the country, but she’s doing everything we ask of her.”

Senior forward Bram’s 48 points on 21 goals and 27 assists matches the total amassed by Wisconsin’s Brianna Decker as the top production in the country. Having played in two fewer games, Bram has set the best mark in points per game with a 2.67 average.

In the second half of the season, CHA league play will get underway in earnest. Because the Lakers have claimed every CHA tournament and regular season championship, with the season crown being shared with Wayne State in 2007-08, they carry a target into showdowns with conference rivals.

“As far as our league goes, we’ve always been able to be tested and challenged by our league opponents, because there are huge rivalries that have been there,” Sisti said. “We’ve been on top fortunately for a long time. Their season, it’s no secret — they want what we have. Those are huge games on their schedule. We get their absolute top-level focus and competitiveness, and that’s always a challenge for us.”

With the possible exception of the Wayne State teams that featured Melissa Boal, Sam Poynton, and Lindsay DiPietro, the problem for the rest of the conference in tilts with Mercyhurst is that most of the best players on the ice are wearing Lakers jerseys. Whether the challenge presented by the maximum effort of lower-ranked teams will provide the competition necessary to achieve an NCAA crown remains to be seen. In the meantime, all the Lakers can do is prepare for whatever opponent the schedule brings.

“In our early years, we’d go into programs that had been around for 20, 30 years and didn’t have any national players on our team, but our players would play with great heart and pride and find ways to win, and we’ve never lost sight of that.”

Connecticut to assess hockey program

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In a rather cryptic announcement on its web site, Connecticut has announced that it is “conduct(ing) a complete evaluation of its men’s ice hockey program. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the program’s current level of support to that of Atlantic Hockey league members and other programs in the region. The assessment will include financial support, staffing, facilities and potential revenue sources. ”

This could mean additional resources for the program to remain competitive in Atlantic Hockey (the Huskies currently do not offer scholarships); it could mean assessing what it would take for application to Hockey East, or it could mean something more ominous.

Calls to UConn have not been returned, but as more information becomes available, we’ll have it for you.

Two Massachusetts-Lowell players depart the team

USCHO Staff Report
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Massachusetts-Lowell defenseman Rob Badger and forward Joe Caveney have both left the team, according to a report on the Sun Blog website.

Both have also been removed from UML’s roster on the school website.

Caveney, a junior, was hampered by injuries his first two seasons and had played only four games this season.

Badger played 10 games as a freshman last year, but had not appeared in a game this season.

SUNYAC midseason report and Christmas wish list

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The SUNYAC schedule is half over, and for most teams, so is the overall schedule. As expected, Oswego is on top, with Plattsburgh giving them a run for their money, and it’s extremely tight in the middle. There are also, as usual, some surprises.

No doubt, the biggest disappointment of the season is Geneseo. Though they sit tied for fourth place just one point behind Buffalo State, their .500 record in league and 7-6 overall mark is not what most people expected. Even more so has been their horrid play in games against Brockport and Potsdam. If not for their wild last-second comeback against the Bengals, they would be an bigger disappointment.

Injuries have been a major factor for the Ice Knights this year, but they dealt with them just fine last season. Something is missing, and it’s hard to put a finger on it. Perhaps the us against the world mentality which carried them last year isn’t there this season.

Goaltending, which was looked at as the best duo in the league, has certainly been off. Adrian Rubeniuk’s save percentage is .906 and Corey Gershon’s is at .851. In conference, they are both below 90 percent. Geneseo ranks last in offense, last on the power play, fifth in defense, and sixth on the penalty kill in the SUNYAC. Nobody on the team is averaging more than a point per game in league play.

It’s a wonder they are even at .500…

On the flip side, Buffalo State is picking up where they left off last year and then some. And they are doing something they hardly do — blowing teams out, beating Brockport, 8-1, Morrisville, 7-2, and Cortland, 8-0. Except for getting hammered by Utica, their nonconference record has been impressive, beating St. Thomas and Hobart, and losing a tough game to Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Needless to say, they have the top offense in the SUNYAC. That’s better than Oswego and Plattsburgh. They also have the top power play, third best defense, second best penalty kill. Kevin Carr is playing spectacularly with a 2.48 GAA.

You don’t want to play the “what if” game, but those third period collapses against Geneseo and Potsdam may come back to haunt them down the stretch, especially since they already beat Plattsburgh.

Potsdam is very much in the playoff hunt, as they so far emulate Geneseo and Buffalo State in turning the program around after receiving NCAA sanctions. With the exception of two periods, the Bears have played every team tough in every minute.

“Short of two periods in Fredonia, we played 60 minutes every single night, and that’s what you have to do to win in our league,” Potsdam coach Chris Bernard said. “I keep telling the guys it’s only going to get harder. We got to stick to our commitments every day to get better. If we do that, we got a chance to achieve our goals.”

Sy Nutkevitch leads the league with 16 points, Erick Ware leads defenseman scoring with eight points, and Trevor Cope leads freshman scoring with 12 points. On top of that, Potsdam may have found a solid goaltender in Dylan Ellis.

Ironically, Brockport may be more of a threat outside the conference than within. They played Utica tough before losing, with an empty-netter clinching it, tied Hamilton, and beat Nichols and Elmira. Nevertheless, they do have a tie against Fredonia and a win against Geneseo. They closed out the first semester going 3-0-1.

“I like where we are at now,” Brockport coach Brian Dickinson said. “Finally playing with a bit of confidence. In league, we’re disappointed in not being in a playoff spot. I felt we gave points away. But, we got our confidence back starting with the Geneseo game, our first complete game, and finished the semester strong.”

Ian Finnerty has been playing like an All Star, especially on the power play, but Brockport does rank last on defense and second to last on the penalty kill.

Bearing Gifts
I hope Santa (or whomever) brings you all the things you want, and all of you have a wonderful Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

As for the teams, there are certainly gifts they all need as well.

Oswego — Healthy goaltending.
Plattsburgh — A win against Oswego.
Buffalo State — No more third period collapses.
Geneseo — Their scoring mojo back.
Potsdam — More than two conference wins in the second half of the season.
Fredonia — Wins instead of ties.
Brockport — Shifting nonconference success to conference success.
Cortland — A playoff spot.
Morrisville — Getting over the Caylin Relkoff hangover.

SUNYAC Players of the Week (selected by the conference)

Player of the Week: James Cody (Sr.), Brockport. Finished with a goal and an assist in the overtime 4-3 win against Elmira. The win gives Brockport a three-game winning streak. Cody scored the game-tying goal with seven seconds remaining in the third period to force overtime. He assisted on the game-winner 58 seconds into the extra period for his 100th career point. He now has 51 goals and 49 assists in his 86 career games.

Rookie of the Week: Aaron Green, Brockport. Made 30 saves in a stunning 4-3 overtime victory over Elmira. He posted 11 saves in the first period and nine more in the second, with a 1-1 tie heading to the third. He made 10 saves in the third period, as each team scored twice to force overtime. He finished with a .909 save percentage, as he picked up the second win of his career.

Goalie of the Week: Adrian Rubeniuk (Jr.), Geneseo. Made 33 saves to lead the visiting Geneseo Ice Knights to a 4-2 win over Elmira. After giving up a goal 16 seconds into the game, Rubeniuk settled down and stopped 23 shots in the first two periods, as Geneseo held a 4-1 advantage.

ECAC Northeast and MASCAC Christmas wish lists

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It’s that time of year again. The stockings are hung, the presents are almost wrapped, and the lights on the Christmas tree are already defective. (It’s a minor inconvenience.)

But after Johnson and Wales’ 7-1 win over Southern New Hampshire on December 14, and with finals wrapped up, each of the ECAC Northeast and MASCAC teams has headed home to enjoy the holiday break.

Chances are that they’ve already started their Christmas wish list, and so have we at USCHO.com. Let’s bestow a gift upon each team in each league …

MASCAC

Worcester State: To gain consistency while earning a few more wins – and not just the upset brand. Lancers goalie Bryan Kalczynski leads the MASCAC with a .931 saves percentage, and Kalczynski and Plymouth State goalie Jack Astedt enter the holiday leading the conference with a 2.07 goals-against average. Speaking of Plymouth State …

Plymouth State: To maintain its consistency, both team-wise and individually, heading into the New Year. The Panthers enter Christmas break at 8-2 and atop the MASCAC standings at 5-1, and junior forward Kyle Greco is second in MASCAC scoring with 15 points (6-9-15), while Richie Zobak leads all league defensemen in scoring (2-8-10).

Westfield State: To behave better on the ice. What’s that whole saying about “naughty or nice?” The Owls are the MASCAC’s most-penalized team, averaging 25.3 penalty minutes in their first 10 games, but surprisingly are fourth in the league in penalty killing at 82.9 percent (58 for 70). Still, the Owls have given up 44 goals on 414 shots this season.

Massachusetts-Dartmouth: To maintain a strong offensive presence, going into the new year. The Corsairs lead the MASCAC with 44 goals and have gotten a boost from freshman defenseman Stephen Ginand, who is averaging nearly a point a game. However, the Corsairs must improve on penalty killing — they’re last in the league at 72.2 percent (39 for 54).

Framingham State: To earn more wins. Because the Rams are 1-6-2 this season after earning their first win since February, and  a program can never have enough of those.

Salem State: To capitalize on six MASCAC games in a stretch of 14 days. Salem State opens 2012 against three nonconference opponents, including a two-game road trip to play at New England College and at Southern Maine, then faces all six of its conference opponents from January 14 to January 28.

Fitchburg State: After opening the season 3-6-1, the Falcons could potentially need some good fortune after the new year. Fitchburg State will play in the four-team Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Tournament January 6-7 at Norwich, and could face the host team, which entered the holidays as the No. 1 team in the nation.

There’s also one big gift, wrapped tightly and tucked away for safe-keeping. At the end of the season, one of the seven MASCAC teams will get a big present: the league’s first automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national championship tournament.

ECAC Northeast

Curry: To continue its consistent pace, and to re-enter the USCHO.com Division III top 15 poll. After losing its season opener at the start of November, Curry entered the holiday break on a seven-game winning streak, and the Colonels average a nation-best 5.75 goals a game.

Salve Regina and Suffolk: More wins. The Seahawks got over the proverbial hump in the first month of the season by matching their 2010-2011 win total of two games, then earned their third win November 27 against nonconference opponent Colby. Since then, the Seahawks are 0-4. Meanwhile, the Rams opened the season with a pair of wins, but struggled to create any kind of momentum from November 10 to December 10, losing eight straight games — including four ECAC Northeast games.

Western New England: Continued success for one of the nation’s top penalty -killing units. At Christmas break, the Golden Bears are second in the nation at 94.3 percent (33 of 35). Also helping the Golden Bears? Goalie Eric Sorenson is tied for third in the nation with a .940 saves percentage.

Becker: A holiday tournament turnaround. The Hawks went into the holiday break on a four-game losing streak, but face Wesleyan and St. Michaels December 30 and 31 in the St. Michael’s Holiday Classic in Colchester, Vt., then play in the four-team Worcester (Mass.) Shootout Classic the following weekend.

Wentworth and Nichols: A continued torrid scoring pace from a pair of freshman. At Nichols, Louie Educate has nine goals and six assists in his first 10 games, averaging a point and a half a game. Wentworth’s Mike Domsodi (8-7-15) is tied for third in the nation in freshman scoring with Educate, Morrisville’s Patrick Stillar (5-10-15) and Milwaukee School of Engineering’s Logan Bauman (1-14-15).

Johnson and Wales: Good fortune in its final four nonconference games, in preparation for the remainder of the ECAC Northeast schedule. The Wildcats are 4-3 against nonconference opponents this season and enter the holiday break in second place in the ECAC Northeast. (Also, here’s an apology from me, from the “right animal family, wrong species category”: I referred to Johnson and Wales as the “Leopards” last week when, in fact, you’re the “Wildcats.”)

ECAC East and NESCAC – All I Want for Christmas

By
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T’was just a week before Christmas and all through the rink,
All of the coaches sat in quiet, to ponder, to think.
The skates put away, pads airing out, the sticks on the rack,
What do we really need to be better, when the players come back?

The second half is nearly upon us, league games and points to be had,
I am hoping that Santa doesn’t think my boys have been bad.
So I will make up a list, just a few small items, not a lot you see,
Just some wins, some goals, and no more injuries, I mean none for me.

The season will move quickly, no time to be wasting,
Our chances to fine tune our game, it’s victory we want to be tasting.
So Santa if you are listening, I hope you are, hear me well,
The following list is for the coaches, but, alas Santa, I get to tell.

ECAC East

Babson: For the Beavers, the first half has been a forgettable 3-7-0, not quite up to the standard seen by Jamie Rice-coached teams in the past several seasons. Babson really needs a couple of things that will help the team across the board. So far this season, only nine players have played in every game, so getting healthy and a consistent line-up will certainly help the cause. The Beavers also need one of their three goaltenders to stand out and cut the collective team 4.70 goals-against average down significantly. If that happens, the penalty kill that shows a 68 percent success rate should also improve. Both Zeke Testa and Andrew Peabody have good career numbers, so hopefully the second half brings some consistency between the pipes to Babson.

Castleton: The Spartans are probably thinking, “Who needs a break anyway?” At 10-1-0, and with their only loss coming at the hands of the number one team in the country (Norwich), Alex Todd’s team has been firing on all cylinders so far. Still, Santa needs to find something to put in their stocking, so maybe it should be the ability to play well on the road starting at the end of the month. Eight of the Spartans next 10 games are away affairs, beginning with the Cardinal Classic and a chance that they could see the host school (Plattsburgh) twice in a span of one week. The offense has been potent, special teams outstanding, and Erick Cinotti has asserted himself as the clear number one in goal. Success on the road in January will be telling of how far this team may be able to go in March.

Massachusetts-Boston: At 4-5-2 overall and just 1-5-0 in the conference, the Beacons really need to learn how to come out much stronger in the first period, particularly against league opponents. So far in the conference, they have scored just three goals all season in the first 20 minutes of play, and carry a minus-seven goal differential into the break. Coach Belisle’s team finished the first half with two consecutive wins over the University of New England and Wentworth, and now look to carry some belated momentum into their own Codfish Bowl Tournament to start the second half. Success in their tournament may help build confidence for a January 14 showdown with Norwich.

New England College: After splitting a two-game set with Cortland by duplicate 4-3 scores, the Pilgrims finished the first half at 6-4-0 overall and 4-2-0 in the conference. Other than Norwich and Castleton, NEC is the only team in the ECAC East with a winning conference record. In the second half, Coach Carroll might like to see some weekends with points in both games, as the December schedule showed a weekly cadence of a win and a loss for the Pilgrims. Additionally, at 4-2-0 on the road, NEC has played better away from the friendly confines in Henniker, N.H., which is something that will need to change, since the second half opens with six straight at home.

University of New England: The Nor’easters plain and simple need offense. At 2-6-2 overall and 1-5-0 in the conference, UNE has just 33 goals in 10 games played, and moreover has been outshot by their opponents in the third period by a whopping -32 deficit in shots and minus-eight in goal differential. While there are other areas to tighten up, more offensive production would surely take the pressure off a bit on the goaltending and penalty kill, as well build some confidence around an inexperienced group of forwards that includes six freshmen and sophomores among their top 10 scorers.

Norwich: Now let’s not be greedy Coach McShane. The Cadets are unbeaten thus far this season, and have played well in all three zones. Just ask the coach and he’ll tell you it can always be better, but improvement here is a relative term. Just staying healthy is going to be an important thing for Norwich in the second half, and while goaltender Parker Carroll’s won/loss record is outstanding, a save percentage over .900 would surely  make sure their team goals against average of 2.00 doesn’t go up in January. The Norwich Classic precedes a trip to play Babson at Frozen Fenway, where hockey fans can see what the best in D-III has to offer in an outdoor game.

St. Anselm: After notching win number 300 as a coach, Ed Seney may want to ask Santa to just stay under the radar screen with some big match-ups coming up in January. The Hawks can score goals with a very balanced attack, play strong special teams, and get good goaltending that has them in every game. A 5-2 loss to Norwich is the only losing result with greater than a two-goal differential. The second half finds St. A’s with 10 of its first 12 games at home, so getting on a roll in their own rink would be a nice stocking stuffer for Coach Seney this Christmas.

St. Michael’s: Ahh, the Purple Knight would surely trade in his kingdom for some goals, as the offense has produced just 18 goals in eight games so far. Freshman A.J. Pieprzak has nearly a third of the total goals with his team-leading five goals, so Coach Davidson just might want to see some more balance from his forwards.  Additionally, some more five-on-five goals would be a welcome happening, as nearly 50 percent of the team’s offensive output has been produced with the man advantage. Their own tournament at the end of December brings Becker and Salve Regina to Winooski, so hopefully, 2012 can get off to a promising start.

Skidmore: Other than a 3-0 shutout loss to Norwich, Skidmore has played very tight games all season. Like NEC, they too have found it difficult to put back-to-back wins together on each of the weekends. One key contributor to the close losses they have experienced may be found in their penalty kill effectiveness, where opponents are scoring at a 28.9 percent success rate. Also, the Thoroughbreds need to have better results when playing away, as they open with four consecutive road contests, including two games with Potsdam following the break.

Southern Maine: At 3-3-0 overall and 3-3-0 in the league, the Huskies seemed to be getting it right leading into the semester break. A 3-1 win over Bowdoin has them on a three-game winning streak, where they have outscored their opponents by a 13-4 margin. Goaltender Braely Torris has found his groove, but the offense needs to get more consistent in the second half, where the Huskies have a negative goal differential overall. More consistent road play and better penalty killing will also help Jeff Beaney’s squad, which opens the second half at the Middlebury Classic, where he hopes to see his team meet his brother’s Middlebury squad to celebrate the New Year.

NESCAC

Amherst: A sweep of top rivals Williams and Middlebury to close out the semester has the Lord Jeffs atop the NESCAC standings at 5-0-0. While no one on the roster is lighting it up offensively, the scoring has been balanced and the defense has been stifling. Coach Arena would surely like to see his team stay healthy, including a return to the line-up by spark plug Eddie Effinger. Senior Jonathan LaRose has been as advertised in goal, so look for Santa to bring a better power play in the second half to help the offense overall.

Bowdoin: A weekend sweep of Tufts and Connecticut College, where they outscored the opponents 12-1, was a strong finish to an otherwise average first half. While the offense has been solid, it has been a bit of a feast or famine scenario for Bowdoin this season, where goals come in bunches or not at all. More production from Daniel Weiniger and Harry Matheson would be great support for senior Richard Nerland, who has been outstanding in five games, posting a 3-1-0 record.

Colby: Coach Stan Moore is probably still learning what he has with his Mules, but one thing is for sure, the veteran coach can’t be happy with a power play unit that has gone 1-for-29 in the first half of the season. Senior defenseman Patrick Bursee has the lone man-up marker this season, so look for more from the likes of Michael Doherty and Spike Smigelski in the second half. A nonconference game with Salem State starts the new semester, followed by Hamilton and Amherst at home, where Colby will need to play better in the second half, having posted just a 1-3-0 record in Waterville this season.

Connecticut College: The good news is nine different players have scored for the Camels. The bad news is no one has more than three goals, and the team averages just over two goals per game. Add some less-than-stellar penalty killing and inconsistent goaltending and you have the imbalance that finds the Camels a couple of games below .500 on the season. The biggest present Coach Ward can find under the tree would be a home win. The Camels are 0-4 on home ice this year, so following a trip to Oswego for the Pathfinder Classic, six straight at home could determine the success of Connecticut College’s season early in the second half.

Hamilton: New coach Rob Haberbusch has been seeing improved play from the Continentals as the first half progresses, including a solid 3-0 shutout at home over Middlebury. The next day they lost to Williams 5-1, so consistency will be a welcome gift from Santa for Hamilton. Offensively, Michael DiMare and Anthony Scarpino have 10 of the team’s 19 goals and four of the six power-play goals, so more goals from more contributors would be a welcome addition to support the solid goaltending of sophomore Joe Quattrocchi.

Middlebury: Giving up less than two goals a game is a strong start for the defense and goalie John Yanchek, but not averaging three goals a game is a surprise for the line-up the Panthers roll out every night. They have been shutout twice this season, and scored three or less in seven of eight games played. Special teams have been solid, so scoring five-on-five goals will need to be a more frequent event in the second half for Bill Beaney’s squad.

Trinity: Goals from a source other than a player with the last name Menard will be a nice present for first year coach Matt Greason. The twins have exactly 50 percent of the total production and 50 percent of the power-play production. Unfortunately, Jeff Menard’s power-play goal is one of just two overall for the Bantams, who are just 2-for-32 in the first half of the season. A bit of health for proven man advantage scorers like Mike DeMayo and Paul Jaskot would surely help the Bantams in the second half.

Tufts: Yes, Scott Barchard is back and healthy, so Santa, please don’t spill milk in the locker room for him or any other Jumbo to slip on. But most of all Santa, can you help Coach Murphy’s squad out with some improved special teams play? The penalty kill is only at 70 percent, despite having one of the conference’s best in goal, and the power play has clicked at only a 7 percent success rate.  Sophomores Kyle Gallegos and Garrett Sider lead Tufts with four goals each, and that includes one power-play goal apiece. Kicking it off with more offense at the Codfish Bowl in Boston after the New Year would be a good start for the second half.

Wesleyan: Coach Potter’s team has had a good start, and that is across all facets of the game. Goaltending has been strong between Glenn Stowell and Matt Hadgen. and the offense has delivered behind sophomore Nik Tasiopoulos and his eight goals. Even special teams, which have struggled in recent years, have been solid, so what could Coach Potter ask for from Santa?  Maybe, just maybe, a bit more discipline and fewer penalties from the team sitting second in the conference at just over 18 minutes per game in the penalty box. Just a consideration when three of your upcoming opponents excel on the man advantage.

Williams: The Ephs are another team that has already received balanced offense, strong defense, and goaltending and credible special teams. So what could Bill Kangas want in his stocking from Santa? The Ephs may want to find the “hot tub time machine” to keep everything going from the first half into the second half. For sure they don’t want any injuries to their core group, so rule out the hot tub for that use, but overall Williams has key performers and leaders in all three areas of the game, so while they sit in second place today, expect the Ephs to contend for their first NESCAC crown. Four of their first six games after the break are with nonconference opponents, so Williams will need to keep up the intensity before facing the iron of the NESCAC schedule.

Well, that’s it:

The wish lists have been hung on the web with care,
In the hopes that some readers soon will be there.
So as my laptop keys tap out with delight,
I wish to all a Happy Holiday, and for now a good night!

Santa’s coming — drop the puck

MCHA, MIAC and NCHA Christmas wish list

By
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Now that the first half of the 2011-2012 hockey season has been hung by the chimney with care, let’s take a look at how the competition is shaping up in the MCHA/MIAC/NCHA conferences. Also, I will guess as to what the coaches would want from Santa Claus for the start of 2012.

MCHA
Adrian and Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) have the best records in the conference going into the break. Both teams are 7-1 in league play.  Marian has yet to lose a game in the conference, and is just a point behind the leaders in the standings.

Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE)
2011-12 overall record: 10-3
2011-12 conference record: 7-1
What Santa could bring: MSOE has nothing but conference games on the schedule, so the best thing Santa could bring would be the consistency that MSOE has displayed all along this season in the MCHA.

Adrian
2011-12 pverall record:  8-3
2011-12 conference record: 7-1
What Santa could bring: Adrian could use a dominant stretch where it conquers all. Adrian has been as high as No. 4 in the USCHO.com poll, but is now ranked at No. 7.

Marian
2011-12 overall record:  6-3-4
2011-12 conference record: 5-0-3
What Santa could bring: An awesome January. Marian faces Adrian and MSOE in the first four games of 2012. Marian is undefeated in conference play, and some inspired play could propel Marian to the top of the MCHA.

Lawrence
2011-12 overall record: 4-4-3
2011-12 conference record: 4-1-3
What Santa could bring: Lawrence is another team in the MCHA that only has one conference loss. It also faces front-runners Adrian and MSOE in January, so Lawrence could use the same gift that Marian needs.

Northland
2011-12 overall record: 3-7-2
2011-12 conference record: 2-5-1
What Santa could bring: Northland could use some improved defense. It has a good offense and freshman goalie Ian Perrier appears to be the answer in goal.

Concordia (Wis.)
2011-12 overall record: 1-10-2
2011-12 conference record: 1-6-1
What Santa could bring: Good luck for the new rink. The Ozaukee Ice Center can seat 1,000 spectators, and just opened in December.

Lake Forest
2011-12 overall record: 1-9-0
2011-12 conference record: 1-7-0
What Santa could bring: A successful trip to the East Coast. Lake Forest begins the second half of the season with a three-game swing to Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Finlandia
2011-12 overall record: 1-11-0
2011-12 conference record: 1-7-0
What Santa could bring: Better luck in the new year, because the first half of the season was not good to Finlandia.

MIAC
The MIAC is locked in a very tight race this season. Going into the winter break, St. Thomas leads the conference, while Concordia (Minn.) is in second, St. Olaf in third, and three schools are tied for fourth. Bethel is the surprise team in fourth place at the break with Gustavus and Hamline.

St. Thomas
2011-12 overall record: 8-3-2
2011-12 conference record: 4-1-1
What Santa could bring: Some separation in the standings. St. Thomas has a one-point lead, and could use some other teams to stop St. Olaf and Concordia (Minn.)

Concordia (Minn.)
2011-12 overall record: 7-3-3
2011-12 conference record: 3-1-2
What Santa could bring: A little more firepower. Good defense and goaltending is the team’s trademark, and finding a bit more offense makes Concordia (Minn.) a tough team.

St. Olaf
2011-12 overall record: 7-3-2
2011-12 conference record: 3-2-1
What Santa could bring: The same consistency St. Olaf has displayed this season.

Bethel
2011-12 overall record: 5-8
2011-12 conference record: 3-3
What Santa could bring: Continued confidence. Bethel is playing some of the best hockey in the MIAC.

Gustavus Adoplphus
2011-12 overall record: 7-4-2
2011-12 conference record: 3-3-0
What Santa could bring: More games in Wisconsin. Gustavus is 4-0-1 playing games in Wisconsin this season.

Hamline
2011-12 overall record: 5-7
2011-12 conference record: 3-3
What Santa could bring: Consistency. Hamline is stuck in a four-game losing streak after starting out the season strong.

Augsburg
2011-12 overall record: 3-6
2011-12 conference record: 1-3
What Santa could bring: A shift in momentum. A few wins could move Augsburg in the other direction.

St. John’s
2011-12 overall record: 3-6-2
2011-12 conference record: 1-3-0
What Santa could bring: More five-goal games. In its three wins this season, St. John’s has scored at least five goals.

St. Mary’s
2011-12 overall record: 3-8
2011-12 conference record: 1-3
What Santa could bring: More home games with MCHA teams. St. Mary’s is 2-0 this season when hosting teams from the MCHA.

NCHA
The most surprising teams this season have been in the NCHA. Two teams expected to be at the bottom are leading the conference going into the break.  Wis.-River Falls has been the surprise team in the nation. It has battled its way to a No. 4 ranking in the USCHO.com poll in December. Wis.-Stevens Point is currently second in the conference. St. Norbert is third in the conference.  St. Scholastica is another surprise team, trailing St. Norbert by one point in the standings.

Wis.-River Falls
2011-12 overall record: 9-2-2
2011-12 conference record: 5-1-2
What Santa could bring: The return of early-season success. Wis.-River Falls has only won once in its last three games.

Wis.-Stevens Point
2011-12 overall record: 5-6-2
2011-12 conference record: 4-4-2
What Santa could bring: Continued consistency. This is a team that is coming together earlier than expected.

St. Norbert
2011-12 overall record: 7-3-3
2011-12 conference record: 4-3-1
What Santa could bring: Last year’s mojo. The defending national champs had their unbeaten home streak stopped by St. Scholastica early in December.

St. Scholastica
2011-12 overall record: 7-3-2
2011-12 conference record: 3-3-2
What Santa could bring: Streak-busting ability. St. Scholastica put a stop to two winning streaks at St. Norbert’s home rink.

Wis.-Superior
2011-12 overall record: 7-4-2
2011-12 conference record: 3-3-2
What Santa could bring: A change of luck. Wis.-Superior has the offense, defense and goaltending to be a contender.

Wis.-Eau Claire
2011-12 overall record: 8-6-0
2011-12 conference record: 4-6-0
What Santa could bring: The attitude that helped Wis.-Eau Claire win the Adrian tournament.

Wis.-Stout
2011-12 overall record: 5-7-1
2011-12 conference record: 2-5-1
What Santa could bring: Improved defense.

MacMillan leaves St. Cloud State, says playing time was an issue

USCHO Staff Report
-

St. Cloud State sophomore forward Mitch MacMillan has left the team and a report in Tuesday’s St. Cloud Times says his departure had to do with ice time.

MacMillan had played in 14 of SCSU’s 20 games thus far, but was a healthy scratch in the last three.

“I wasn’t happy there with my playing time and I decided to move on to further my hockey career,” MacMillan said to the Times.

He said he might transfer or start a pro career.

MacMillan was on the Dean’s List last school year and said that the move is not related to academics.

This season, MacMillan had no goals and five assists, while as a freshman, he had four goals among six points in 28 games.

TMQ: No straight line between Point A and Point B

By Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski
-

Todd: Well, Jim, we’re wrapping up the first half of the season this week at USCHO, and we’re heading into the holidays the same way we headed into last offseason — with Minnesota-Duluth at No. 1. It has hardly been a straight line from Point A to Point B there, though. What do you think the top story of the first half of the 2011-12 season is?

Jim: I think when I look back on the first half of this season, there is no doubt that the top story has been the immediate success of some first-year coaches. Mel Pearson, Norm Bazin, Nate Leaman, Rick Bennett, Jim Madigan. The list goes on and on. All of these coaches have turned some heads in the first half of the season.

I think another story is one you already began to mention, and that’s Minnesota-Duluth’s ability to climb to the top spot in the nation as it defends its national title. We all know how difficult it is to repeat. So what stories stand out for you?

Todd: The thing that has stood out to me is the number of teams we’ve seen take their turns at the No. 1 spot in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, and the struggles some have faced after reaching that milestone. Since starting off 9-0-1 and reaching the top spot, Merrimack limped into the break with a 1-3-1 record in its last five. Michigan was No. 1 in October but later found itself out of the poll completely.

We’ve also seen Notre Dame, Boston College and Minnesota in the top spot so far this season, which tells me that if you’re looking for a favorite to win the national title in Tampa come April, you’ve got a pretty sizable list to choose from.

Jim: That is very true, though I do feel that once we get past the new year, teams will begin to define themselves as national champion contenders. I think some of the early season success of teams like Merrimack, Lake Superior, Massachusetts-Lowell and Northern Michigan will be tested in the second half of the season. Of that quartet, only Merrimack has any true NCAA experience to draw from and, as you mentioned, the Warriors seem to be feeling the oats of what was a pretty easy early season schedule.

With that said, if all four of those teams were to drop out of the top 15 of the PairWise in the second half, what are the teams you would expect to move in? I can tell you the team that tops my list, having seen them play on Saturday: Union.

Todd: That was a pretty strong statement by the Dutchmen, going to Merrimack and spoiling the Warriors’ first-half finale. But, to me, Union has been tough to get a grip on this season. It will have a weekend where it scores one goal in two games, but it’ll go into Yost Arena and put up six goals on Michigan. The Dutchmen open the second half at Denver and at Colorado College, which could be huge games when it comes to the PairWise Rankings at the end of the season.

Jim: I think that you hit on Union’s weakness: offense. This is a team that plays incredible defense and I like its team speed. But scoring goals was the Dutchmen’s downfall in the NCAA tournament last season and that seems to still, at times, be an issue.

So we’ve talked about first-half story lines. What do you see as some of the biggest story lines in the second half?

Todd: I think one, unfortunately, will be how many teams will be negatively impacted by players leaving school. Boston University has already dismissed Corey Trivino and seen Charlie Coyle leave for major juniors. Nebraska-Omaha dismissed Alex Hudson, who started the season as a team captain but had two violations of team rules in the first semester.

A lot of rumors will float around between now and when we get started again after Christmas — some will have legs, some won’t — but losing key players could change the course for some contending teams.

Jim: This, I agree, is very unfortunate. It also, I think, opens the door for major juniors to jump on these kids and maybe even paint college hockey in a negative light. In a time where major juniors has been hyper-aggressive in recruiting kids away from college — even after they’ve played a season or two — in-season departures is the last thing college hockey needs.

Before we close here, what are some of the holiday tournaments that catch your eye?

Todd: The Great Lakes Invitational is shaping up to be a solid tournament, with No. 3 Boston College joining No. 14 Michigan State, No. 20 Michigan and Michigan Tech. I’ll also be interested to see if Northeastern gets a shot at Minnesota at the Mariucci Classic. The Huskies have already taken down Michigan and Notre Dame (twice) in their six-game winning streak. What do you see?

Jim: I am interested to see if Northeastern can keep up their winning ways at the Mariucci Classic. If it faces Minnesota in the final, that will be a great clash. And as you said, the GLI field is probably the single most attractive. Now, if I had the choice to travel to one, of course, I’d choose the Florida College Classic, if not for the field but for the warm temperatures.

And with that, we’ll close for the week and the year. On behalf of Todd, here’s wishing you and your family a very Happy Holidays!

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