It’s that time of the week again – pick six games from the two conferences (including the conference crossover games) and make our best predictions. However, each week’s picks come with a little statistical analysis, and this week’s match-ups even come with a few wrinkles – both hockey and non-hockey. Will those factor into the games at all? Last week, I went 4-1 (.800), and improved to 7-6 (.538) on the season.
ECAC Northeast
Western New England at Curry, 4:35 p.m. Saturday
Shots, shots, shots. Curry has scored 14 goals on 76 shots in its first two games, while Western New England has scored 11 goals in its first three games, averaging more than 35 shots a game. A minor distraction: Western New England’s football team, on the same day, is playing at Salisbury (Md.) in a first-round game of the Division III national championship tournament. Pick: Curry 4-2
Salve Regina at Suffolk, 7 p.m. Saturday
After last weekend’s 10-2 drubbing by Curry, the Seahawks must right the ship, but do so against Suffolk, a team that’s also in need of an early-season win. The Rams gave up 16 goals in their first two losses at the Pepperidge Farm tournament last weekend.
Pick: Suffolk 5-3
Johnson and Wales at Wentworth, 2 p.m. Sunday
Wentworth forward Casey Shade has opened the season on a tear — in his first three games, the senior has scored four goals and an assist. However, Johnson and Wales has its own scoring threat in junior forward Danny Kaufmann, who has scored four of the Wildcats’ six power-play goals. Pick: Wentworth 3-2
MASCAC
Worcester State at Fitchburg State, 4 p.m. Saturday
Travis Bertolotti and Thomas McAleer each averaged a point a game in Fitchburg State’s first three games, and were two of seven different players to score goals for Fitchburg State in that stretch. A pair of sophomore goalies have backstopped Worcester State in the early part of the season – Bryan Kalczynski and Taylor Fant. Pick: Fitchburg State 3-2
Salem State at Massachusetts-Dartmouth, 4:30 p.m. Saturday
Salem State came off a 10-day layoff entering Thursday’s game at home against Fitchburg State, and quickly had to shake off the rust; the Vikings will play their second game in three days when they face the Corsairs. Phil Bronner leads Mass.-Dartmouth with four goals and an assist in its first three games. Pick: Salem State 4-1
Westfield State at Framingham State, 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Scoring hasn’t been a struggle for Westfield State in its first four games — being outscored and outshot was the struggle in the early part of the season. The Owls’ first four opponents held an advantage of 155-105 in shots, and outscored the Owls 16-11. Pick: Westfield State 5-1
ECAC Northeast/MASCAC picks: Nov. 18
MCHA/MIAC/NCHA picks: Nov. 18
The weather may be cooling down, but the on-ice action is heating up in the Midwest. The last weekend before Thanksgiving may clarify the standings as to who will be the contenders in the MCHA, MIAC, and NCHA conferences. Here are some picks for this weekend’s upcoming action.
NCHA
St. Norbert at Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 7:00 p.m. Friday
Wis.-Eau Claire has yet to lose at home in Hobbs Ice Area this season. Junior goaltender Brandon Stephenson leads the NCHA with a 2.20 goals against average and a .919 saves percentage. Junior Jordan Singer leads the Blugolds with six goals and three assists. St. Norbert however, was picked to win the NCHA this season. The Green Knights lead the series versus Eau Claire by a 40-4-3 margin. Senior Johan Ryd leads the NCHA in scoring with five goals and eight assists. St. Norbert’s special teams play is better this year than Eau Claire’s, scoring on 15.4 percent of its chances, while Eau Claire is just under 12 percent for its power play. St. Norbert has killed off 82 percent of its opponents’ power plays, and Eau Claire has been effective in killing off penalties 76 percent of the time. Pick: St. Norbert 5-3
Wisconsin-Stout at Wisconsin-Superior, 7:00 p.m. Saturday
The Wis.-Superior Yellowjackets will host the Wis.-Stout Bluedevils at Wessman Arena this weekend. Sophomore Pat Dalbec leads Superior offensively with three goals and six assists, and sophomore Drew Strandberg has handled the most minutes in goal so far this season, posting a 2.60 goals against average and .897 saves percentage. Branden Gay leads the Stout team with five goals and six assists, and junior goalie Tom Lescovich has a 2.49 goals against average and a .909 saves percentage. The Bluedevils have had some inconsistent play from an inexperienced squad, and still have to learn to win on the road. The Yellowjackets are the early leaders in the NCHA, and that will continue this weekend. Pick: Wisconsin-Superior 4-2
MIAC
Hamline at St. Olaf, 7:30 p.m. Friday
Hamline has had a flair for the dramatic early this season by winning two games in overtime. Senior Jordan VanGilder leads all scoring with three goals and four assists, and freshman Nick Widing has added three goals of his own to go along with three assists. Senior goalie Beau Christian has a goals against average of 3.79 and an .867 saves percentage. Seniors Charlie Raskob and Peter Rohn lead St. Olaf’s offense with three goals apiece. Ben Leis, the senior goalie, has had an impressive start to the season with a 2.15 goals against average and a .933 saves percentage. St. Olaf wins a low scoring affair. Pick: St. Olaf 2-1
MCHA
Lawrence at Marian, 7:05 p.m. Friday
Marian’s Dakota Dubetz is leading the MCHA in scoring. The junior has five goals and six assists on the season, while freshman Brian Berger has five goals of his own. Marian will test Lawrence’s freshman goalie Peter Emry. Emry has had an impressive start to his collegiate career, with a goals against average of 2.33 and an MCHA-leading .920 saves percentage. Lawrence has another impressive freshman to watch in Gustav Lindgren; the young Swede has six assists and one goal on the year. However, keeping Dubetz off the scoreboard will be a difficult task. Pick: Marian 3-1
ECAC West Weekly Picks, Nov. 18-27
Flipping a coin worked pretty good last week, as I went 4-0. However, I heard some grumblings about my picks when I visited Hobart on Saturday. It is hard to make everyone happy.
This week, a bit of a bonus as I’m making picks through the Thanksgiving weekend, as teams hit the holiday tournaments.
I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.
Last Week: 4-0
Overall: 8-2 (.800)
{predicted winners bolded}
Friday, November 18
Hobart at Elmira – After a big game against Neumann last weekend, Elmira looks to remain perfect in league.
Manhattanville at Neumann – Neumann gets its first home league contest of the season.
Saturday, November 19
Utica at Neumann – Utica comes into Neumann on a three-game roll. Having not played a game Friday should give the Pioneers an advantage.
Tuesday, November 22
Manhattanville at Western New England – The Valiants look to build some momentum on the road, and Western New England should be just the team for them to do it against.
Friday, November 25
Neumann at Cortland – Cortland certainly isn’t the pushover it used to be, but Neumann has a lot of weapons to bring to bear.
Elmira at Middlebury – Elmira hits the Primelink Tournament on a roll, but this tournament is the toughest in the country.
Saturday, November 26
Neumann at Cortland -Neumann hopefully will finish off the sweep against Cortland, if for nothing more than to build on the ECAC West’s bragging rights over the SUNYAC.
Norwich/Plattsburgh vs. Elmira – If Elmira can win the Primelink, it will make a strong case to jump to the top of the USCHO Poll. But facing Norwich or Plattsburgh in the championship game might be a bit too much.
Hobart vs. Babson – Hobart heads east for the Cape Cod Tournament.
Sunday, November 27
Amherst/Salem State vs. Hobart – The Statesmen’s strong defensive corps will help them roll to the title in the Cape Cod Tournament.
Williams at Manhattanville – Manhattanville hosts its first nonconference game of the year.
Hockey East picks – November 18-24
An equally mediocre week for Dave and me led to the old man maintaining a two-game lead.
Jim last week: 5-4-1
Dave last week: 5-4-1
Jim’s record-to-date: 35-21-7
Dave’s record-to-date: 37-19-7
Here are this week’s picks:
Friday, November 18
Vermont at Boston University
Jim’s pick: Despite Vermont typically playing well at BU, the Terriers are playing well enough right now I have to pick them,
BU 4, UVM 2
Dave’s pick: Jim is more optimistic about the Catamounts than I am. Their results are 1-5-1 without a single one-goal loss. The goal differential in the losses: 24-6. Nuff said.
BU 5, UVM 1
Providence at Northeastern
Jim’s pick: Interesting to see how the Friars do on the road, but they are the hotter hand and will get my pick.
PC 5, NU 3
Dave’s pick: The Huskies’ early-season win over UNH is looking awfully fluky now. At 1-7-2, it’s hard to go with them even at home.
PC 4, NU 1
Maine at Massachusetts
Jim’s pick: Not typical that UMass would ever be my pick over Maine, but at home and taking into account the Black Bears struggles, I’m going Minutemen
UMass 3, Maine 2
Dave’s pick: Agreed. Perhaps the Black Bears rise up after getting swept at home, but I’m believing in the resurgent Minutemen until proven otherwise.
UMass 4, Maine 2
Massachusetts-Lowell at New Hampshire
Jim’s pick: My gut says Lowell, my brain says UNH. For some reason, I’m following my brain.
UNH 4, UML 3
Dave’s pick: I was thinking Jim would go with his gut over his brain. After all, his gut is much larger. I’m also going with UNH at home in the week’s most fascinating match-up.
UNH 4, UML 3
Boston College at Notre Dame
Jim’s pick: The battle of the Catholics goes to a fired up home team.
ND 3, BC 2
Dave’s pick: I may be a Hockey East homer, but Notre Dame can’t call Hockey East home. Not yet.
BC 3, ND 2
Saturday, November 19
New Hampshire at Boston University
Jim’s pick: Wound up with egg on my face picking UNH in this exact matchup on opening night. Lesson learned?
UNH 5, BU 3
Dave’s pick: Jim may not have learned his lesson, but I have. Not that I doubt UNH, but I like the way BU has played of late.
BU4, UNH 2
Vermont at Northeastern
Jim’s pick: Both teams are desperate for a win. I’m betting on home ice here
NU 3, UVM 1
Dave’s pick: I’ll agree with Jim on the desperation, but I don’t think it’s just home ice. I think the Huskies are simply playing the better hockey of the two.
NU 4, UVM 2
Massachusetts at Massachusetts-Lowell
Jim’s pick: Battle of sister schools goes to the smaller.
UML 5, UMass 2
Dave’s pick: Both teams entered the weekend with three-game winning streaks, but I like the River Hawks’ overall performances better.
UML 4, UMass 2
Tuesday, November 22
Massachusetts at Vermont
Jim’s pick: Right opponent for a win for UVM? Not sure, but worth the pick at home.
UVM 4, UMass 2
Dave’s pick: Home or away, I’ve got to see more from UVM before I start picking the Cats.
UMass 4, UVM 2
New Hampshire at Harvard
Jim’s pick: Wildcats consistency can be questioned, but against Harvard? C’mon.
UNH 5, HU 2
Dave’s pick: The Wildcats haven’t lost since opening the season 0-4. A no-brainer.
UNH 5, HU 1
Wednesday, November 23
Alabama-Huntsville at Merrimack
Jim’s pick: This one shouldn’t be close.
MC 5, UAH 1
Dave’s pick: The Chargers’ plight in their final season isn’t as hopeless as the Indianapolis Colts’, but the results aren’t much different.
MC 6, UAH 1
ECAC Hockey picks: Nov. 18-19 (UPDATED)
Yes, I’m here, I’ve posted! Records so far:
Josh: 29-19-10
Brian: 26-15-7
Princeton at Cornell
Josh: It looks pretty simple right off the bat. Cornell is a multi-faceted weapon that can rack up the goals and stop you dead the other way. Teams need to learn to take the point shot away from player of the week Nick D’Agostino, and also watch out for No. 17, Brian Ferlin, who has won the rookie of the week twice now. The Tigers have a losing record as of this morning, but they won’t leave the weekend without points. Their offense is impressive, scoring no less than two goals in any one game yet. Gotta like the Big Red, though, on this one. Cornell 4-3
Brian: The bigger question for me isn’t if Princeton will match Cornell’s intensity, but rather will Cornell suffer another unpredictable loss the likes of Mercyhurst and Brown? I suppose unpredictable losses are innately unpredictable, so I shan’t make it my business to try to predict them, lest they become predictable. 4-2 Red.
Quinnipiac at Colgate
Josh: Langlois vs. Smith? Should be fun to see who can get the puck off the others’ stick the most and do something with it. They are two of the five players in the nation with at least 10 goals (they both have 10). Smith has only been shut out (along with his team) once, while Langlois only has two goals (and two points) in his five November contests. Yes, there will be around 38 other guys on the ice and they’ll try to shut both of them down. Anyone else like Langlois and the Bobcats for a big comeback? Quinnipiac 4-2
Brian: Three goals in their last three games: if you haven’t been paying attention, you’d probably guess I was talking about Colgate. But no, this year’s Raiders have been making up for all the lamps they didn’t light last year! Instead it’s the Bobcats offense that has fallen down the well, and Sting is nowhere to be found. Top scorer Jeremy Langlois (10-6–16) has been held point-less in three of his last five games after opening the campaign with points in each of his first eight appearances. I’m tabbing the Raiders in this one, 3-1.
Harvard at Clarkson
Josh: The Golden Knights looked sweet in October, but after winning their first November game, it’s been 0-2-1 since then. Two goals in three games for a team that scored 32 in their first 10 is certainly a point of concern for head coach Casey Jones. Crimson-wise, they showed pluck in their 4-2 loss to Cornell, and beat a fairly consistent Colgate team Saturday night. You don’t want to put them on the power play, either, as they’re clicking at 27.3 percent right now. I’m probably going to regret picking the home team, but I have to expect the Golden Knights to snap out of their goal funk. Clarkson 2-0
Brian: ‘Tech has scored two goals in its last three games, going 0-2-1 in the process. Harvard may be 1-2-1, but the Crimson – at least – have scored at least two goals in each of their four games. I’d usually pick the homestanding Northerners here, but Harvard showed me up in the playoffs last year with a two-game sweep of Clarkson (it was practically a three-game sweep, considering the last game of the regular season was a Harvard-CCT tilt as well, albeit in Boston). So, here’s my faith pick: Crimson, 3-1.
Dartmouth at St. Lawrence
Josh: A lot of interesting dynamics to this game. Dartmouth hasn’t played away yet, and St. Lawrence is on a three-game league winning streak after an 0-5 start. The Saints do look great behind the offensive leadership of Kyle Flanagan, who has scored in seven of their eight games. However, after going pointless last weekend, I have to think the Big Green are out for blood. Big Green goalie James Mello has to get back to the form that saw him chosen as the media/coaches preseason all-conference selection (2.85, .901). Dartmouth 3-1
Brian: Well this would’ve been a no-brainer a week ago, but now? SLU’s on a three-game streak, Dartmouth’s lost two straight, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria. Moreover, the Big Green have allowed 14 goals in four games, despite eventually winning half those contests. It’s wild. The Saints have figured out how to shut ‘er down defensively, and I think that will be the difference on Friday: Saints, 3-2.
Princeton at Colgate
Josh: I like how the Tigers have gotten points from all but two of their players who have appeared in at least four games so far. That’s 18 players on the board through seven games – you never know where it’ll come from. Colgate, with 19 of its own players taking points so far, is similarly deep. Both teams’ defenses and goalies (possibly Alex Evin and Sean Bonar) will have to get their heads on a swivel. I should probably pick a tie here, but I think the Raiders will break through at home. Colgate 5-3
Brian: Could I really see Colgate sweeping at home? You betcha. But Princeton gives me pause, because the Tigers are still an unknown quantity to me: new coach, new systems, and a wobbly record out of the gate make the Garden Staters a real wild card. I’m taking Colgate, but unconfidently: 3-2 Raiders.
Harvard at St. Lawrence
Josh: Again, I think the guts shown by Harvard so far, including two lunchpail goals against Cornell and a focused, determined effort in the win against Colgate last Saturday will carry over to this weekend. Assuming they put their nose to the grindstone against a Karpowich-led Clarkson team one night earlier, then their streak of blue collar (yes, Harvard, blue collar) play will win out the night. It won’t be easy – St. Lawrence is among the early contenders for league dominance. Harvard 4-2
Brian: Harvard has the stuff to impress, but the Crimson lack such a track record, so I’m going to go with the swiftly improving Saints in this one. I’m all about the momentum today, and SLU’s got it in spades. 4-2 Saints.
Quinnipiac at Cornell
Josh: The Big Red should be able to utilize its league-best offense (best goals per game – 4.25 – thus far) to outrace a Quinnipiac team trying to put it all back together after an awesome October and mediocre-at-best November. Some scoffed when I referred to Cornell last Monday as a “rising force.” Previous years’ history aside, when you start out the season with bookending losses to then 1-4 Mercyhurst and a Brown team that has played well but hasn’t scared anyone yet, your 3-1 conference record makes you a rising force this year. Cornell 3-2
Brian: Many will recall QU’s stunning playoff sweep of the Big Red at Lynah back in March ’07. That put the league on notice that the Bobcats are nobody’s doormat, no matter how new the ECAC patch on their sweaters. This ain’t that team, but it shouldn’t be dismissed that Lynah is no mystery to these visitors. I’m taking Cornell, but this game simply smells like one of those “unpredictable” losses for the Big Red. 4-3 Cornell.
Dartmouth at Clarkson
Josh: I believe this will be a big weekend for Paul Karpowich in the Knights’ net, with Clarkson needing a victory after a three-game winless streak if they want to be considered among the league iron. He’s about as steady as they come in the league in net, proving that so far with a .941 save percentage and a 1.77 goals against average. With Mello most likely across the ice in the Big Green net (unless the wheels fall off in Dartmouth), this’ll be one of the great early-season goaltending duels. Clarkson 1-0
Brian: Ugly game to pick. Neither team is instilling a whole ton of confidence in me right now, so when in doubt, pick the home team (that goes double in the North Country). 2-1 Clarkson.
Brown at Army
Josh: Army brought the fight on the road early in the season, playing three out of four teams who are currently nationally ranked right off the bat. They may be 1-5-2, but the Black Knights don’t know the meaning of the phrase “take it easy.” Their goalie, Ryan Leets, has been shelled with an average of 35 shots per game, but he’s able to keep his head above the .900 mark in save percentage (.901). Brown is one of those ECAC teams that no one expected much from, but they are one of the reasons for the early parity, beating ECAC top four teams Cornell and Union along the way. Brown 3-1
Brian: It’s true that Army has played a lot of truly good teams, but let us not disregard the fact that Army has not beaten any of them. Brown rolls, 4-1.
Connecticut at Yale
Josh: Ah, the Constitution State will play host to its two greatest institutions. If it were women’s basketball or football, I’d yield to the Huskies faithful on this one, but it’s Bulldog ice when these two meet, regardless if you’re in Storrs or New Haven. Yale has the upper hand in this sport, and should continue its historic dominance over UConn, having outscored the Huskies 49-17 in all previous meetings. I’d love to someday see UConn make a bid for Hockey East to get five of the New England states’ flagship schools in there, but drawing under 1,000 regularly for their home games won’t see that happen anytime soon. Yale 6-2
Brian: I’m not going to dignify this matchup with an analysis. Instead, here’s a clip of some pretty decent air-banding. 28-3 Yale.
Tuesday
Josh: I’ll throw out some new picks at @JoshUSCHO on Twitter on Tuesday morning or afternoon for that night’s games: AIC at Brown, Niagara at Cornell, UNH at Harvard and Yale at Sacred Heart. Let’s see how ECAC teams fare Friday and Saturday before we look too far ahead.
Brian: What he said. @SullivanHockey, though.
WCHA picks: Nov. 18-20
No. 19 Nebraska Omaha (6-5-1, 5-2-1 WCHA) at No. 11 Denver (4-3-2, 3-2-2 WCHA)
Tyler: Nebraska-Omaha’s goaltending situation, between John Faulkner and Ryan Massa, has held the Mavericks back but Adam Murray hasn’t exactly put a lid on Denver’s net either. This weekend will see a couple of high-offense shootouts out on the range. Neither team is head and shoulders above the other so…split. UNO earns its first ever win in Denver.
Brian: The Pioneers hold a 8-3 advantage in the all-time series, and have dominated in Denver (6-0). DU’s power play has struggled overall so far going just 6-of-40 (15 percent) with the man advantage but UNO’s penalty kill (79.1 percent) ranks just ninth in the conference for the season. Something’s got to give there. In conference games, the Mavericks rank first in third-period scoring with 16 while only two teams (Bemidji State and Wisconsin) have allowed more than Denver’s 10 goals in the final period. In addition, the third is DU’s least-productive scoring period so it’s advantage-Mavericks if it’s close after two. On the heels of snapping a seven-game winless streak against Bemidji State last week, UNO will break another streak of futility in Denver and earn a split.
No. 15 Michigan Tech (6-3-1, 4-3-1 WCHA) at Alaska Anchorage (3-6-1, 0-6-0 WCHA)
Tyler: The biggest thing yet to learn about Michigan tech is whether or not it can win on the road. The Huskies lost their only two games away from Houghton, getting swept in Bemidji, Oct. 21-22. Now, the Huskies are going to Anchorage and won’t return home until after Thanksgiving. The Seawolves are struggling to score but I expect a minor turnaround, but one big enough for UAA to sweep this weekend.
Brian: To say the Seawolves have lost their scoring touch would be an understatement. After outscoring four non-conference opponents 17-9, UAA has been outscored 23-4 in conference play. Although the Huskies lost their only two road games of the season I don’t see Alaska-Anchorage’s offense getting healthy against MTU’s team defense and goaltending. Michigan Tech sweeps UAA in Alaska for the first time since Feb. 13-14, 2004.
Minnesota State (3-7-0, 2-4-0 WCHA) at No. 8 Minnesota-Duluth (7-3-2, 5-2-1 WCHA)
Tyler: Minnesota State’s offensive struggles will become even more visible this weekend. J. P. Lafounaine provides a lot of hope for the Mavericks but they’ve run into a buzzsaw/goalie-on-a-hot-streak in Kenny Reiter. UMD sweep
Brian: The Mavericks are coming off of a couple of impressive splits at Michigan Tech and at home against St. Cloud State. But hitting the road to face, arguably, the nation’s hottest team in UMD and its equally-sizzling goaltender is a task far more daunting. The Bulldogs don’t return to AMSOIL Arena until they host Alabama-Huntsville on Jan. 20-21 but give their fans a fond farewell with a sweep of Minnesota State.
No. 1 Minnesota (10-2-0, 7-1-0 WCHA) at/vs St. Cloud State (5-5-2, 3-2-1 WCHA) – Home and home
Tyler: Minnesota should get plenty of chances on the power play this weekend, especially if St. Cloud State continues to consistently fill its penalty box this weekend. The Huskies have accumulated 133 penalty minutes over the course of the past six games and have been forced to kill multiple 5-minute majors. The Gophers PP is slumping the last three weeks but could have a turnaround weekend against SCSU’s freshman goaltender, Ryan Faragher, still wet behind the years. Whenever an in-state rival hosts Minnesota, it always brings out the best in the local crowd. Expect a rowdy atmosphere Friday at the National Hockey Center. SCSU wins Friday, Minnesota win Saturday at home.
Brian: While St. Cloud State leads the league in penalty minutes (22.2 PIM/G) Minnesota is not far behind in third place (15.8 PIM/G). But don’t expect the Huskies’ anemic power play (9.5 percent conversion rate) to have much success against Kent Patterson and the Gophers’ WCHA-leading penalty kill (88.6 percent). SCSU holds a 3-2-0 edge in the last five meetings between the schools but Minnesota has won six of the last 10 (6-3-1). Unfortunately for Minnesota, that record is reversed (3-6-1) in its last 10 as the nation’s No. 1 team. I’m going to go against that grain, however, and predict the Gophers to take two from SCSU.
Wisconsin (5-6-1, 4-5-1 WCHA) at No. 5 Colorado College (5-2-0, 3-2-0 WCHA)
Tyler: Wisconsin beat No. 1 Minnesota last Friday because they got a great game out of Joel Rumpel and because they were able to slow the Gophers game down from the puck drop. But the Badgers were outshot badly last weekend and they paid for it in Saturday’s loss to Minnesota. I think CC will sweep but the Tigers need to shore up their recent defensive issues to make it happen.
Brian: It’s time for Colorado College to perform the way many of us expected it to this season and play up to its ranking, at least in its own zone and goal crease. I think it happens for the Tigers this weekend as they sweep the Badgers in just the second series of the season at World Arena.
North Dakota (3-6-1, 1-5-0 WCHA) at Bemidji State (4-7-1, 2-5-1 WCHA) – Saturday/Sunday series
Tyler: North Dakota is well-rested with a week off and hungry for a win, which the Fighting Sioux hasn’t earned since Oct. 29 at home against SCSU. For those reasons, the Sioux will pick up a victory this weekend, but UND has been so bad on the road to this point that I doubt they’ll leave Bemidji with a sweep. Split.
Brian: These two teams rank one right after the other in four WCHA overall statistical categories (scoring offense, scoring defense, power play, and penalty kill). Don’t expect a lot of power-play goals because as adept as each team is on its penalty kill, its power-play proficiency is equally inept. They are within half a goal per game of each other in even-strength scoring and .2/game in even-strength goals against. But since 1970, the Sioux have a whopping 21-1-1 record in the all-time series and are 16-0-1 against the Beavers since their Division I rivalry began in 1999-2000. With records and statistics this similar, history and a hot goalie in Aaron Dell wins out as North Dakota sweeps.
Paula's picks: Nov. 18, 2011
There’s nothing quite like calling the score of a single game on a single night correctly, as when I said Notre Dame would beat Western Michigan 3-2 Tuesday — and the Fighting Irish did just that.
It was a fluke. Surely, you know this.
Paula’s picks
Last week, including Tuesday: 7-4-2 (.615)
Season to date: 48-30-10 (.602)
Any week that I’m still above .500 is a very good week, indeed.
This week
Notre Dame’s in sole possession of first place — for now. Since the Fighting Irish play out of conference while some league rivals high in the standings are playing two CCHA games, that is likely to change.
There are four conference series this week, along with a single nonconference game between Boston College and Notre Dame and a Lake State-Canisius series. Western Michigan has the bye. All league series are Friday-Saturday. All start times are 7:35 p.m. local unless otherwise noted.
BGSU at Miami The Falcons return to CCHA action after successfully defending the realm, having swept Canisius twice at home last weekend and outscoreing the Griffs 7-2 in the process. Friday’s 4-1 win put a stop to BG’s five-game losing streak. Now the Falcons would like to see some conference success as a reward for how hard they’re working. That’s a challenge, since BG travels to Miami for two — and the RedHawks have, seemingly, awakened. Last week, the RedHawks followed their sweep of Alaska with a five-point weekend against visiting Michigan, beating the Wolverines 2-1 Friday and tying 3-3 Saturday plus earning the extra shootout point. Senior Cody Reichard (2.33 GAA, .906 SV%) has started six straight games for the RedHawks, the result of what coach Enrico Blasi says is a gut feeling. Miami swept the four-game series with BGSU last season, outscoring the Falcons 15-5. For more on the fortunes of the Falcons and RedHawks, check out my column from this week. Saturday’s game is a 7:05 p.m. start. Picks: Miami 3-1, 4-1
FSU at UAF The Bulldogs, just four points out of first place, have a chance to catch league-leading Notre Dame this week since the Irish are playing out of conference. The Nanooks, 18 points out of first place, do not — but, boy, wouldn’t Alaska love a win? The Nanooks are still looking for their first conference win of the season after suffering a road sweep at the hands of the Irish last weekend, the Saturday 3-2 loss coming in overtime after UAF led ND 2-1 late into the third. Friday’s 5-4 win was equally frustrating; the Nanooks led 4-3 after the first period and UAF’s four goals in that contest were more than they’d scored in their previous three games. The Bulldogs extended their unbeaten streak to four with a win plus a tie against Lake Superior State at home last weekend. Five different FSU players scored in Friday’s 5-1 win, and the Bulldogs are now averaging over three goals per game. Last year, FSU went 3-1-0 against UAF, with the sole Alaska win coming in OT … but the Nanooks have swept the Bulldogs in five of the last six series in Fairbanks. Picks: FSU 4-2, UAF 2-1
MSU at NMU Last weekend, Michigan State stunned everyone except for Michigan State when the Spartans swept Western Michigan in Kalamazoo — and I’m not so certain that the Spartans weren’t a little surprised, too. MSU has been working hard to retool its overall game, striving for an up-tempo style that has sometimes left the defense a little pinched … but not in the Spartans’ last four games, in which they’ve outscored opponents 18-8, limiting opponents to two goals per game. The line of Greg Wolfe (4-8–12), Lee Reimer (5-9–14) and Mike Merrifield (6-3–9) leads MSU in scoring and combined for three goals and five assists against the Broncos. They’re facing a Northern Michigan team looking for its first win since Oct. 21, a seven-game stretch (0-4-3) in which the Wildcats have averaged 1.71 goals per game. NMU is undefeated (3-0-3) at home this season, though, and the Wildcats have beaten the Spartans in eight of their last 10 games. The teams are separated by one point in the standings. Given the way this season has gone, I want to toss a coin on this one. Picks: MSU 3-2, NMU 4-3
OSU at UM This clash of Big Ten programs should provide some good hockey, as the Buckeyes continue to improve this season and the Wolverines return home very stung from Oxford — and this series is a week before their football teams meet in Ann Arbor. (If you don’t think these hockey teams dislike each other even more for that reason football-specific reason, you haven’t been paying attention.) Of course, by “good hockey” I mean really intense games with some creative chanting from the Yost faithful. Last weekend, Ohio State swept Northern Michigan at home in two 4-1 games, bringing their current unbeaten streak to seven (6-0-1). OSU hasn’t allowed a power-play goal in their last five games and the Buckeyes’ penalty kill is effective 90.2 percent of the time for seventh in the country. The Wolverines return home after earning one little point in Oxford, losing to and tying Miami, 2-1 and 3-3. The four-goal output for the weekend was an uncharacteristic slump for the UM offense, still the fourth-best in the nation (4.17 goals per game) even after the relatively low-scoring series. Michigan was 3-1-0 against Ohio State last season, the solo OSU win coming in overtime in Columbus. Picks: UM 5-3, 4-2
BC at ND The Fighting Irish and Eagles meet annually, but this year their contest will officially dedicate the new Compton Family Ice Arena, even though the Irish have played four games in their new home, winning all four contests. This will be ND’s fourth game in eight days; the Irish swept Alaska at home last weekend before beating visiting Western Michigan Tuesday night, extending their unbeaten streak to eight games (6-0-2). The Eagles had mixed results against Hockey East opponents last weekend, beating Northeastern 2-1 Friday before losing 5-0 to Boston University Sunday. Junior Chris Kreider (8-8–16) leads a BC offense that is seventh in the nation (3.75 goals per game) while his classmate, Parker Milner (2.33 GAA, .908 SV%) has played every game for the Eagles. This is the 31st meeting between the teams, a series that Boston College leads 16-12-2. The teams met in South Bend Oct. 23, 2010, a game that ND won 2-1. I know it’s irrational, but I won’t call against the Irish in this series. Pick: ND 2-1
LSSU at Canisius The Lakers travel to Buffalo to play Canisius, and my good friend Chris Lerch tells me that LSSU is the highest-ranking team to play the Golden Griffins ever in their home rink, which is really Buffalo State’s home ice rink, but who’s counting? The Lakers took two points from Ferris State last weekend to hang on very briefly to first place in the CCHA. Sophomore Kevin Kapalka (2.24 GAA, .918 SV%) continues to be the backbone of the LSSU squad. Last weekend, he made 62 saves against the Bulldogs, a season high for a two-game set in 2011-12. The Golden Griffins dropped two road games to Bowling Green last weekend and tied Niagara Tuesday night, scoring one goal in each contest. Sophomore Kyle Gibbons (3-3–6) and junior Torrey Lindsay (3-2–5) lead Canisius in scoring, and the Griffs are averaging 1.44 goals per game, 56th in the nation. Last year, the Lakers swept the Golden Griffins 5-4 and 5-0 in Sault Ste. Marie, Oct. 16-17, 2010. This is a Saturday-Sunday matinee series. The first game begins at 12:35 p.m., the second at 3:05 p.m. Picks: LSSU 3-1, 4-1
Okay, discuss!
But do it nicely. Follow me on Twitter (@paulacweston) or email me ([email protected]) or simply respond below.
AHA Picks Nov. 18-22
Last Week: 5-5-1
On the Season: 48-22-6 (.654)
This Week’s Picks:
Friday, Nov. 18
Army at American International – Both teams are having trouble scoring goals, so this one is a tossup. I’m going with the Yellow Jackets at home. AIC 2, Army 1.
Saturday, Nov. 19
Connecticut at Yale – The Huskies are coming off an eight-goal outburst against Sacred Heart, but I think they’ll struggle against No. 9 Yale. Yale 5, UConn 2
Brown at Army – The Bears have knocked off some good competition so far this year, and I think they’ll handle the Black Knights. Brown 3, Army 1.
Friday, Nov. 18 and Saturday, November 19
Holy Cross at Rochester Institute of Technology – The Tigers have owned Holy Cross since both teams moved to Division I, with RIT holding a 16-1-2 advantage. But this Crusader team is sporting the best offense and power play in the conference, and should win at least one of the two games. RIT 4, Holy Cross 3; Holy Cross 4, RIT 3.
Bentley at Mercyhurst – Both teams are off to 4-1 starts in league play and this should be the most entertaining series of the weekend. I’m thinking split with the Lakers getting the win on Friday. Mercyhurst 3, Bentley 2; Bentley 3, Mercyhurst 2.
Saturday, Nov. 18 and Sunday, Nov. 19
Lake Superior State at Canisius – This is a rare occurrence with a ranked team coming into an AHA barn. No. 12 LSSU is the highest ranked team to play at Canisius since the Griffs hosted No. 3 UNH back in 2003 at the then-HBSC Arena. While a win by Canisius wouldn’t surprise me, I think LSSU prevails twice. LSSU 4, Canisius 2; LSSU 3, Canisius 2.
Tuesday. Nov. 22
AIC at Brown – This should be another win by Brown over an AHA team. Brown 4, AIC 2.
Niagara at Cornell – The Big Red have already lost to an AHA team on home ice this season (Mercyhurst beat them 5-4 on Oct. 29) so they won’t be taking the Purple Eagles lightly. Cornell 5, Niagara 3.
Yale at Sacred Heart – This is the first of eight games this season that the Pioneers will play at the Webster Bank Pavillion in Bridgeport. It might give them a lift, but not enough to beat the Bulldogs. Yale 4, Sacred Heart 1.
Back to the top
Every year, the third week of November means two things. First, it’s one week until Thanksgiving (in the U.S., that is) and second, the NESCAC teams finally start their respective seasons.
As has been the case for the last five seasons, the NESCAC front-runners will likely come down to the traditional powers of Middlebury and Amherst. However, Bowdoin may be the team that plays the spoiler after the Polar Bears are coming off their best season since 2007.
Last year, Middlebury returned to the top of the NESCAC mantle after a one-year hiatus in 2010, which saw the Panthers miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since the NCAA started sponsoring a D-III championship in the 2002.
In doing so, the Panthers also grabbed the torch back from Amherst after the Lord Jeffs had won two straight national championships in 2009 and 2010. Middlebury not only won the conference tournament title to stop Amherst’s shot at a three-peat, it also returned to the Frozen Four for a record-tying sixth appearance.
Both squads lost significant pieces and will have some holes to fill this season if they want to continue to maintain their foothold at the top of the NESCAC.
Middlebury lost All-American goaltender Alexi Bloom, who finished last season with 12 shutouts, just one short of the single-season record set by Wis.-Stevens Point’s Amy Statz.
“Alexi obviously had an outstanding year,” Middlebury coach Bill Mandigo said. “It’s tough to replace any All-American, but it’s especially tough to replace a goalie. We’ve got three that are working hard right now and are pretty athletic. To be honest, we’re not quite sure who it’s going to be, so I think all three will get some time until we figure it out.”
Middlebury also lost Julia Ireland, Anna McNally and Heidi Woodworth, who were primary contributors on offense.
“Last year, we had six seniors who all played, and we’re all on the same page,” Mandigo said. “I don’t think there was any outstanding talent outside of Alexi’s senior year, which was certainly outstanding. Collectively, they were a huge loss.”
Mandigo credits last year’s senior class as having a large factor in helping the Panthers return to the NCAA Tournament after the 2010 season ended with a four-overtime loss to Trinity in the NESCAC semifinals.
“Last year’s seniors were disappointed at the end of their junior year, and felt they had let the players that had worn the jersey before down a little bit,” Mandigo said. “They made a little bit of adjustment in attitude, and when you have a group of seniors that get it, it makes it a lot easier for everyone, including the coaches.”
With that being said, Middlebury will once again return a formidable group led by junior Lauren Greer (14 goals, 12 assists, 26 points), sophomore Sara Ugalde (13-9-22), and senior Grace Waters (9-12-21).
“I think we’ve got a good solid core coming back,” Mandigo said. “There is a good group of juniors and seniors coming back, and it will all come down to how quickly we can get the freshmen on board. I think the freshmen are all pretty talented, but they haven’t gone through it yet.”
Mandigo will also have the luxury of having two of the top defensemen in the NESCAC back patrolling the blue line in juniors Heather Marrison (5-16-21) and Madison Styrbicki (4-17-21).
Middlebury opens up the 2011-12 campaign with a pair of games at Colby this weekend. Middlebury will be without Greer this weekend, as she is currently the leading scorer in the country in field hockey, and has led the Panthers to the Final Four in the NCAA D-III Field Hockey Championship.
The NESCAC schedule will be a little different this year, in the fact that travel partners are no longer and instead of playing a game against two different teams on a weekend, every team will play another team twice on back-to-back nights.
“It’s going to be a little bit of learning curve playing every team twice in one weekend rather than having games against different opponents every night,” Mandigo said. “It’ll be interesting to see how it works out. David Venditti does a great job at Colby. The kids work really hard there. It’s a tough venue to play in, and their kids always compete at a very high level when they are in their own rink.”
Amherst finds itself in a little bit of unfamiliar territory entering the 2011-12 season, as the Lord Jeffs won’t be defending the national championship after they won two straight before Norwich claimed last year’s title.
“Last year across the board we didn’t really have the sense of urgency that we do this year,” Amherst coach Jim Plumer said. “The focus of this team has been as good as any team I’ve ever had. The current seniors won the national championship as freshmen and sophomores, and they want to get back to that stage this year. Last year, we learned a lot of important lessons, and this year we need to translate them.”
Although Amherst lost All-American defenseman Randi Zukas and power forward sniper Courtney Hanlon, Plumer likes how the team has started to come together since the team had its first official practice on Nov. 1.
“Randi was such a great distributor of the puck and quarterback for us on offense,” Plumer said. “We still have Geneva Lloyd, and Ashley Salerno, I think she is poised to step up in Randi’s role on the power play.”
Lloyd will be counted on to not only be a force in the defensive zone, but also on offense as well, as the junior led the team in scoring last year with 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points. Salerno was the top-scoring freshman for Amherst last season with eight goals and seven assists for 15 points.
Coupled with the returning seniors Stephanie Clegg (13-14-27), Ellen Swiontkowski (10-16-26), and Emily Vitale (2-16-18), Amherst will still have plenty of firepower on offense to build off of.
However, Plumer is still expecting a couple of players to have breakout seasons this year for the Lord Jeffs.
“I think we’ll have some kids this year emerge that haven’t had their names on the score sheet,” Plumer said. “Barrett McBride, Courtney Baranek, and Haley Opperman are three kids that played regularly, but didn’t develop as quickly as we had hoped. However, they are really in position to play bigger roles this year, and they look a lot more confident so far.”
Although the players have changed a bit, Plumer said Amherst will still be sticking to the philosophy that has helped him build the program from the ground up. It started with a Cinderella run to the Frozen Four in 2007, and culminated with back-to-back national championships in 2009 and 2010.
“We still feel like we have that defense-first quality defensemen mentality that we’ve had, even though the landscape has changed a little bit,” he said. “Most of our offense has been by committee, and when we’ve been successful, we’ve had the ability to roll four lines.”
Plumer pointed to speed possibly being the biggest difference between this year’s team and last year’s squad.
“I think this team is faster up front than we’ve been in the past couple years,” Plumer said. “It may even be on the par with the Tarasai Karega and Lindsey Harrington year. I think we have a chance to be a different team this year. Last year’s team was big and this year’s team is smaller, but quicker.”
One of the biggest question marks for Amherst this year could come in between the pipes, as Caroline Hu graduated last year after getting most of the starts. Senior Sinead Murphy returns, as does sophomore Kerri Stuart, to try and vie for the No. 1 job.
“Part of what we have learned in the past is we prefer to have two goalies rather than three, because it fits the way we practice better,” Plumer said. “I’m someone who likes my goalies to play. They last time we had two goalies two years ago, I think it benefited those two kids and it benefited our team. Murphy and Hu alternated every game until we got to the last regular season game.
“Right now, the plan is to give both ample playing time until one proves themselves. They both have looked good in practice and we’ll see how it shakes out.”
Amherst will open this weekend with a home-and-home with Hamilton.
“Hamilton is a dangerous team with a great goalie that has given us fits in the past,” Plumer said. “Last year, we heavily outshot them and it was all we could do to try and sneak one past her. Coach Knight has a really good hockey mind and I have no doubt he’ll have a good game plan for us. They are a team that I feel has been on the cusp for a few years now. They tied us in our second national championship year, and we won two close one-goal games last year. They had a good freshmen class last season that has probably matured and will be even better this year.”
Plumer said he expects the NESCAC to be as competitive as ever this season, and has reminded his team countless times that there are no off nights.
“I think Bowdoin will be good enough to beat anybody,” Plumer said. “The ECAC West may have Plattsburgh, R.I.T., and Elmira, but they’ve also got a few teams that have been relatively weak consistently, whereas the NESCAC anybody can beat anybody if you overlook someone. You got to show up every night in our league, and that’s what I love about it.”
While the grind of the regular season has produced its fair share of upsets and shocking results in the NESCAC the past few seasons, the cream of the crop has risen to the top when it matters most. That’s where Middlebury and Amherst have distinguished themselves from the rest of the league over the last five years, and will look to do this season.
300 Wins For Joe Baldarotta
Cortland coach Joe Baldarotta joined an elite list of college hockey coaches, a group that now contains only 22 members, with 12 still active. Baldarotta won his 300th game as a coach.
It was done in a heart-stopping manner, but then coaches who have been in the game this long are certainly used to it. The Red Dragons let a two-goal lead slip away against Morrisville, but Michael Lysyj scored 1:24 into overtime on a power play to give his coach the milestone win.
Baldarotta started coaching at Wisconsin-Stevens Point during the 1991-92 season. He had immediate success, making it to the national championship game before losing, 7-3, to Plattsburgh. The following year, his team again had a 25-win season, and this time won the national championship in a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over Wisconsin-River Falls. It was the first overtime title game in Division III.
He coached at Stevens Point, where he also played, for 16 years, winning three regular season titles, two conference championships, made five NCAA appearances with one national championship and two national runner-up finishes. Four times his teams had 20-plus victories, and only twice finished under .500. Overall, he was 265-171-38 (.599) in the cheese state.
His worst season there was his last (7-18-2, .296). The following year, he came east to start coaching at Cortland.
In his first season in Central New York, he went 11-12-3 (.481), going 8-4-2 down the stretch. That was the best season Cortland had in six years, and their first SUNYAC playoff appearance in four years. In total, his record at his new job is 35-64-7 (.363).
Cortland has been a tougher nut to crack. The school has tremendous success with their sports teams, except for hockey. The school is perfectly located for recruiting in every sport but hockey. Thus, the school tends not to spend as much for hockey recruiting when they know they don’t need to for any other sport and are successful with those other sports.
Need basketball players? It’s a short recruiting trip to New York City or the Syracuse-Rochester-Buffalo corridor. Lacrosse players? An easy hop to the hotbeds of Long Island and Syracuse. Plenty of nearby talent for soccer players, especially women’s soccer, in Rochester. If they need to expand their football recruiting horizons outside of talent rich upstate N.Y., simply go down to New Jersey to snag a few extra players.
Hockey, on the other hand, cannot rely solely on New York State players, even if the state is doing a better job producing young talent. To be competitive today in Division III, you still need to do your recruiting heavily in Canada. Even if the players aren’t Canadian, the best are mostly playing their junior hockey up there.
Cortland rarely gets Canadian players, because their recruiting budget simply isn’t large enough to extensively recruit north of the border. Plus, the school offers no incentive to lure Canadian students to their campus, even before other schools were getting in trouble for some of their programs.
Last year, there was not a single Canadian player on the roster (there were three from Sweden, but they were all transfers from Becker College). The year before, just one Canadian. The two years before that, again none. This year … two, and one is a transfer from St. Norbert.
Baldarotta, however, continues to remain optimistic. Every time I talk to him, he is always upbeat about his team, changing the environment in Cortland, and aiming to fill the rink with screaming fans.
“We’re not dwelling on what we don’t have,” Baldarotta said. “We’re dwelling on what we do have.”
What Baldarotta does have is 300 career victories. And counting.
Happy Thanksgiving
I hope everybody enjoys their gobble-gobble day with family, friends, good food, and maybe even some college hockey.
If you’re vegetarian, fine. But if you’re not, ignore PETA, and eat turkey! Lots of it.
SUNYAC Players of the Week (selected by the conference)
Player of the Week: Steve Sachman, Brockport (F, So., Medford, N.Y.). Scored two goals in a 6-1 victory Friday night against No. 14 Geneseo on the road. It was the first win of the season for the Golden Eagles. Sachman netted a power-play goal midway through the third period and then, 1:30 later, scored a short-handed goal for his second and third goals of the season.
Rookie of the Week: Patrick Stillar, Morrisville (F, Burlington, Ontario). Tallied one goal and two assists over the weekend, including a goal and assist against No. 1 Oswego on Saturday. Friday night, Stillar assisted on Morrisville’s third goal of the night as the Mustangs trailed the Red Dragons 4-3 heading into the third period. Saturday night, Morrisville posted a 2-0 lead over the Lakers in the first, netting their first score of the night just 1:21 in on a power-play tally from Stillar. The Mustangs extended the lead to two as Stillar picked up the assist with just over five minutes remaining in the period. He currently leads all freshmen in the conference in scoring, netting two goals and five assists for seven points.
Goalie of the Week: Colin Breen, Morrisville (So., Waterloo, Ontario). Registered 77 saves over the weekend in which he played over 126 minutes in net. The Mustangs opened the weekend with a tough 5-4 overtime loss to Cortland, in which Breen made 26 saves. Saturday night, Breen posted a career best 51 saves in net to secure a 3-3 overtime draw against No. 1 Oswego, including seven in the extra frame.
Redefining themselves
In the 11 seasons that Mark Taylor has been head coach at Hobart, there are several attributes that Statesmen teams have all had. Hard working, defensively responsible, strong goaltending, all are things opponents routinely say about Hobart teams. This year however, the Statesmen are reinventing themselves. While the above attributes are still there, Hobart has added a new twist, playing a system using three defensemen on the ice at a time.
Most longtime Division III hockey fans will recognize this system as a hallmark of the Middlebury team for many years that led them to several national championships. Indeed, that is where Taylor first learned the system when he was a young assistant coach under Middlebury’s Bill Beaney in 1987.
Due to several last-minute comings and goings of recruits, Hobart found itself with 11 defensemen on the roster, and less depth at forward, so Taylor and his staff decided to implement the three defensemen system, dressing nine ‘D’ every game, and only eight forwards.
“That fits our strengths right now,” said Taylor. “I like how the guys have embraced it, and I think it works for us. I have seen a lot of advantages from it. Thank God I have worked for good coaches like Bill Beaney and Tim Whitehead. We needed to do it. What we have always done before doesn’t fit us this year.”
The players are adjusting quickly to the system. Three defenders in an umbrella high in the offensive zone makes it difficult for opponents to break out of their own zone.
The Statesmen forwards have to make an adjustment as well, though. With only two players diving deep into the offensive zone, the forwards have to look up high now for more help.
“We’re renewing ourselves in a lot of ways in the way we are playing, and in personnel as well,” said Taylor.
One of the freshmen off to a quick start this season has been Ryan Michel. Through the first four games of the season, he notched two goals and two assists, including the game-winner against Salve Regina. Unfortunately, Michel got tied up with a Utica skater chasing a puck for icing on Saturday, went hard into the boards, and left the ice favoring a knee.
“He’s having a great year,” said Taylor. “He is a local kid. He’s been playing great for us, and we are hoping we haven’t lost him. He’s done some good things.”
Putting it together
Utica is starting to put the pieces together and play as a team full of veterans. A sign of that is the ability to play with a lead in the third period. Last year, Utica lost several games after holding late leads. This year, the Pioneers are 4-1 when entering the third period with a two-goal lead or less.
“We’ve come a long way,” said Utica coach Gary Heenan. “We have guys who are willing to block shots, fight through and advance the puck when we need to.”
Up front, sophomore Trever Hertz has raced to a blistering start this season. In six games, he has seven goals and four assists, which places him in a tie for the national lead in goals scored. Hertz also earned ECAC West Player of the Week honors for his three goals and an assist this past weekend.
“His speed has come a long way,” said Heenan. “Last year, his speed wasn’t quite there. He did a great job in the off-season getting stronger. He has a knack for the net.”
On defense, junior Cody Adams has added an offensive touch to his game this season. He exploded this past Saturday against Hobart when he assisted on Utica’s first three goals of the game.
“He’s been steady for us,” said Heenan. “He’s not here for offensive production, so that is a bonus. We’re looking for the wall play from him. Good for him.”
Utica continues to alternate between two goaltenders, as was done last season as well. Nick Therrien and Evan Smith have split time exactly in half in net, and have amassed statistics within one percent of each other in league play. Two strong goaltenders constantly pushing each other helps both keep sharp.
“Both guys respect one another, but know that if one gives an inch, the other will take it,” said Heenan. “We have two number one goalies in our eyes, and we plan on keeping it going.”
A roster full of veterans gives the Utica coaching staff lots of flexibility when making game-day decisions.
“Our depth is there,” said Heenan. “We’re carrying a big roster and have made a ton of roster changes game-to-game. We haven’t seemed to skip a beat when we do that. We have that competition in our roster, and in our practices, that should make us better.”
ECAC West Weekly Awards:
Player of the Week — Trever Hertz (So.), Utica. Hertz recorded four points over the weekend, with three goals and one assist. The sophomore scored one goal and added an assist in a 7-3 win over Westfield State, and tallied two goals in a 5-3 conference win over Hobart.
Goaltender of the Week — Nick Therrien (So.), Utica. Stopped 31 shots in a conference win at Hobart.
Rookie of the Week — Josh Burnell, Elmira. Burnell scored his first two points with a pair of assists as a Soaring Eagle in an ECAC West conference win over No. 10 Neumann.
Lake Forest hockey prepares for the future
The ice arena on the campus of Lake Forest College, in suburban Chicago, has gone through some recent renovations. Improvements have been made to the bleacher area and the locker rooms. There have been changes made behind the home team’s bench as well.
Hired in early May, the 2011-12 season will be the first at Lake Forest for head coach Ryan McKelvie.
“The recent renovations made to our on-campus ice arena makes Lake Forest College, in my opinion, one of the best places to play Division-III hockey in the country”, he said. “It is a school that offers a terrific education, is in a great location, and is fully committed to athletics”.
Prior to coming to Lake Forest, McKelvie served for one season as an assistant coach at the University of Anchorage-Alaska. In 2010-11, Seawolves posted their best Western Collegiate Hockey Association record since joining the league in 1993. He was the team’s recruiting coordinator and academic adviser, and assisted the head coach in nearly every aspect of the program.
McKelvie spent the previous two years as the associate head coach of the expansion Wenatchee Wild in the North American Hockey League. The Wild were 92-33-7 in his two seasons with the team, and finished among the top three teams in the nation in their first two years of existence. His responsibilities spanned all facets of the program, which was directed by Paul Baxter, a 12-year NHL assistant coach and four-year head coach in the AHL/IHL.
McKelvie began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Bemidji State University from 2006-08. The Beavers posted a 22-10-8 record in College Hockey America play during his two years on staff, and claimed a CHA regular season title in 2007-08. He served under head coach Tom Serratore, a three-time CHA Coach of the Year.
His coaching experience also includes two years as the head coach of the ’92 Minnesota Jr. Mavericks AAA team, eight years as a head coach at John Bazzachini’s summer training camp, and four years as a coach at the U.S. National Select 15 and 17 festivals.
McKelvie understands that there will be a growing process at Lake Forest in his first year. It is a young team that consists of 15 freshmen and eight sophomores, with only four juniors and four seniors.
“The biggest challenge I believe we will face this year is establishing a championship-culture on and off the ice,” he said. “Anytime there is a coaching staff change, there are players that thrive under the new staff and some that wish things were still done the old way, and we will need everyone to buy in and be on board with what we are doing now, or we cannot be successful.”
McKelvie has been encouraged so far by the team performance, picking up his first collegiate victory at home against Concordia (Wis.) on November 11.
“I believe we showed that we have the ability to be a very good team; however, at this point we do not understand how hard we need to work to win games”, he said. “Once the players figure this out and start truly believing in their ability, then I think they will be extremely surprised at how successful we are.”
Freshman Jason McAloon, sophomore Roberto Caparelli, and junior Thomas Bark lead Lake Forest offensively, while senior Marc Stuart and junior Austin Erney have split the goalie duties so far this season.
McKelvie played at Minnesota State Mankato from 2002-06, and was the first three-year captain in program history. He was also a three-time member of the WCHA Student-Athlete All-Academic Team, and was nominated for the league’s Scholar Athlete of the Year award.
“In looking at the future of Forester hockey, it will be extremely important that we get the word out about Lake Forest College and all the fantastic things that have recently happened for the College and our hockey program. It is a school that offers a terrific education, is in a great location, and is fully committed to athletics,” McKelvie added. “If we can make sure the rest of the college hockey world knows about our school, I believe we will be able to attract the top recruits to Lake Forest.”
Lake Forest travels to Adrian this weekend.
Weekly Awards
The MCHA, MIAC and NCHA have announced player of the week awards, for the week ending November 13.
MCHA
MCHA Player of the Week — Russell Johnson (So.), Concordia (Wis.). Johnson recorded just the second hat trick in school history, against Lake Forest. He had the game-winner, and also added an assist to his night on the ice.
MCHA Defensive Player of the Week — Connor Toomey (Sr.), Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). For his performance in MSOE’s first-ever victory over Adrian College. The win gave Toomey victory No. 47, the most all-time at MSOE.
MCHA Freshman of the Week — Gustav Lindgren, Lawrence. He had one goal and five assists in Lawrence University’s sweep of Northland.
MIAC
MIAC player of the week — Nick Widing (Fr.), Hamline. So far this season, Widing has factored in two overtime game-winning goals. His first big goal was in overtime during Hamline’s game against Augsburg in the MIAC showcase earlier this season. Then, he assisted on the game-winning overtime goal against St. Mary’s last Saturday, November 12.
NCHA
CHA Player of the Week — Brandon Stephenson (Jr.), Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He made 59 saves on 62 shots in the weekend series versus St. Scholastica.
10-day layoff is no concern for Salem State
The fact that Salem State has 10 days between its first and second games of the season is not by design.
The Vikings opened the season November 7 with a 4-3 win at Wentworth of the ECAC Northeast. Now, the Vikings are biding time – though not in a passive manner – in preparation for their second game of the season, a 7 p.m. MASCAC contest Thursday at home against Fitchburg State.
“That’s the way our schedule fell this year,” Vikings coach Bill O’Neill said. “That’s just what it is. It’s more of the same, with practice and preparation.
“It’s still early in the year, there’s still a lot of excitement to get going and a lot of anticipation.”
And O’Neill is looking at this weekend in a certain regard. The Vikings (1-0) face the Falcons (1-2) Thursday, then play at Massachusetts-Dartmouth at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, which constitutes the beginning of a routine for Salem State. Through December 10, Salem State will play two games a weekend, either Thursday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday, including the Cape Cod Lighthouse College Hockey Invitational tournament November 26-27 in Hyannis, Mass., a four-team tournament that also includes Amherst, Hobart and Babson.
“This is our first weekend of play,” O’Neill said of the Vikings’ games Thursday and Saturday.
While some teams would take advantage of the situation by thinking outside of the box when it comes to breaking the supposed monotony — team-building exercises, a practice session dedicated to playing basketball or indoor soccer, or an extra day off — the Vikings will stay on course by following a simple, defined schedule.
“We’re just working out and practicing,” O’Neill said.
What kind of challenge does a team face when it has nearly a week and a half away from a game routine?
“That’s a good question,” O’Neill said. “But I think the excitement level and the preparation leading up to the beginning of the season, I don’t think the players spend so much time thinking about that. They like to play. If we had our choice, we’d play more than a couple games by now. The players know what the schedule is.”
This isn’t something new for the Vikings. Salem State had a nine-day layoff between its second and third games of the 2010-2011 season, and the Vikings didn’t open the 2009-2010 season until November 17.
O’Neill remembers when his team’s program began its season the weekend before Thanksgiving, while other teams in other leagues would begin their respective seasons at the start of November.
“Now we’re working backwards,” O’Neill said. “A lot of the teams now are trying to get their schedules in place earlier. We’d like to get another game in between (our first and second games) in the future, but that’s the way it fell this year.”
Time to rewind in the MASCAC and ECAC Northeast
Last weekend had a full slate of games in both conferences, but here’s a sampling of some of the contest, each with a number of note:
MASCAC
Utica 7, Westfield State 3: Sebastien Poirier had a goal and an assist for Westfield State, which put only 15 shots on goal in Friday’s loss to Utica, ranked 7 in this week’s USCHO.com Division III poll.
Number of note: Westfield State goalie Eddie Davey made 38 saves in the loss — the second consecutive outing in which he’s made at least 35 saves.
Geneseo 6, Framingham State 1: Daniel Miressi scored Framingham’s only goal at 6:58 of the third period in Saturday’s loss.
Number of note: Geneseo outshot Framingham 44-16 overall and 20-4 in the second period.
Massachusetts-Boston 5, Massachusetts-Dartmouth 4: Mike Owens scored two goals for Mass.-Dartmouth on Saturday, including a third-period power-play goal that cut Mass.-Boston’s lead to 5-4.
Number of note: Mass.-Boston went three-for-four on the power play
ECAC Northeast
Stonehill 2, Nichols 0: Nichols goalie Dylan Woodring made 25 saves in the loss Saturday at Levy Rink.
Number of note: Nichols took 21 penalties in the loss.
Western New England 4, Worcester State 1: Four different players scored for Western New England on Saturday in the championship game of the Pepperidge Farm Classic.
Number of note: Western New England outshot Worcester State by more than a two-to-one margin (42-20).
Curry 10, Salve Regina 2: Ryan Barlock scored two goals and two assists Saturday in Curry’s rout of Salve Regina, while Jacob Hutt scored both goals for Salve Regina in the conference opener for both teams.
Number of note: Curry scored five of its 10 goals on the power play.
Lindenwood’s long climb from club to D-I
Lindenwood University of St. Charles, Mo. is in the midst of an ambitious endeavor, transitioning 27 of its athletic programs to compete at the NCAA level. Most of these sports will be contested in Division-II, but women’s hockey is one of three that will play in Division-I.
Lindenwood’s women’s hockey previously functioned as a club team, and the Lions were a force in the American Collegiate Hockey Association, winning four national titles, including three straight before a third-place finish last season. Over the last eight seasons under coach Vince O’Mara, the Lions posted a composite record of 241-26-11; losing was foreign.
This season, it is one of many things that Lindenwood is having to learn. Starting with 11-0 and 13-0 shellackings at the hands of defending NCAA champion Wisconsin, the Lions have struggled to a 1-14 mark, the lone win coming in a 7-1 victory over D-III St. Benedict.
“We got a late start on the recruiting,” O’Mara says. “We didn’t even know until this January that we were going D-I this year, so we got a late start on it, found some good foundation builders, some good character kids, and then the rest we brought in, a mental toughness we were looking for.”
The Lindenwood roster for the season consists of nine holdovers from the club team, 13 freshmen, and one player with NCAA experience, sophomore Katie Erickson. Unfortunately, Erickson’s playing time came on the softball diamond at St. Cloud State.
“Right now, the biggest problem that we have is that we don’t have any upperclassmen that have been there, done that, so all these kids, even our upperclassmen, they were part of our nonvarsity program,” O’Mara says. “So these freshmen, these rookies, don’t have that upperclassman to lean on, or for them to lean on these kids and let them know, this is what it takes. A coach can only preach so much, but it’s huge to have that upperclassman that can take a kid under a wing and say, ‘This is how we do things at this level.'”
One of the rookies lacking a mentor is forward Alison Wickenheiser, of Germantown, Md. and the Washington Pride.
She says, “In a way, it would be nice to be able to say to our captain, ‘What do you do in this situation?’ But it makes us closer to know that we’re all doing it together. So, I wouldn’t change it. I think it’s a real special circumstance, and I’m happy to be a part of it. Even though so much of it is really mentally tough, you learn from it and get past it. You just lean on each other.”
Being a part of a first-year varsity team wasn’t Wickenheiser’s original plan, as she was expecting to be a Warrior in Detroit for her freshman year.
“Committing to Wayne State, obviously I was excited and looking forward to that year, and as soon as it shut down, it was kind of devastating,” Wickenheiser says. “I was scared for what was going to happen, I didn’t know where I was going to go, whether I was going to quit, go D-III, go D-I. I had called my coach immediately right after I found out. He gave me a list of schools, and Lindenwood was on the list. I was like, ‘Never heard of them.’ I told my coach that I was interested in them, so he called the coach, and the coach called me. And it was the night of my prom! Coach O’Mara was talking to me, and I was really stressed, because I had a lot to do like my hair and my nails and everything. I’m blessed to be here.”
The blessing has gone both ways, as Wickenheiser has provided the Lions with some needed scoring punch; she leads the team in goals (six), assists (10), and points (16). As a whole, Lindenwood has done a creditable job offensively as a new program, scoring 27 goals in 15 games.
Where the awakening has been far more rude is in their own zone, as opponents have piled up 120 goals on 818 shots, an average of more than 54 a game. Goaltender Taylor Fairchild has seen the vast majority of that rubber, and set the program record for saves in a game with 67 in a 7-0 loss to Mercyhurst.
“It gets to a point where it gets very frustrating at times, but also, even though I’m facing 60, 70 shots a game, it’s good for me, too,” Fairchild says. “Just facing those shots, even though I’m letting in 10, 11 goals, it’s building me as a player, and I think it’s building our team, too. When I only have 40 shots and I only let in four or five goals, it’s good for our team.”
Fairchild spent her senior year in Michigan and away from her home in Overland Park, Kan., so that she could play for Little Caesars. She is also thankful for the possibilities afforded by Lindenwood’s move to D-I, because there are limited openings for goaltenders in each recruiting class.
“My senior year last year, I was looking at schools that I could e-mail and talk to, and almost no schools needed goalies, because they all had freshmen and sophomores,” she says. “A few that I talked to, things fell through, but then once I heard about Lindenwood, it was fresh and picking all-new goalies. It was a great opportunity that I couldn’t turn down.”
The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game in Eveleth, Minn. on November 10 afforded my first look at the Lions, as they met Bemidji State. The Beavers struck quickly, scoring four times in their first 19 shots on net in 12 plus minutes, ending Fairchild’s night early, as she gave way to Briar Bache in the Lindenwood net. According to O’Mara, the performance was atypical of Fairchild, who he says has been very strong in goal. Bache fared little better in relief, as BSU finished with 72 shots in an 11-0 win. Throughout the game, Bemidji skaters had their way in front of the Lindenwood crease, creating havoc and getting sticks on rebounds.
“If I had to pick out one thing that’s our biggest downfall, it’s our positioning after the goaltender makes that first save,” O’Mara says. “I bet we’ve given up 75 to 80 percent of our goals this year, the second, the third, the fourth rebound. That’s something we work on and work on and work on, and we just haven’t gotten that fine-tuned good enough yet.”
Knowing that players need to be controlled in front of the net and physically able to neutralize them isn’t always the same thing, particularly when the opponents have the advantage of more months in the weight room.
“The strength of these girls — it’s a year-round deal now, it’s a year-round commitment,” O’Mara says. “These girls are working as hard in the offseason as they are during the season. Any program, you’ve got to have that physical conditioning.”
His counterpart on the Bemidji State bench can relate to Lindenwood’s struggles.
“About four years ago, we had Wisconsin over here in this game, and we chased them around the whole game,” BSU coach Steve Sertich says. “So absolutely, I have a lot of empathy. Their program is so young, and they have a long ways to go, but man they work hard.”
Bemidji State senior Marlee Wheelhouse saw more from the Lions than what the scoreboard displayed.
“I think they have a promising future,” she says. “They have a lot of girls that have some talent and skill, and as they get older and more mature and play with each other, it’s just going to get better for them.”
For Lindenwood’s opponents, a game against a developing team provides a chance to do some things differently than the rest of the schedule allows.
“We had some kids that were dinged up a little bit, so it was a nice opportunity for some kids to play that haven’t had a chance,” Sertich says. “I told our kids that we want to be better today than we were yesterday. We had some nice plays, and it was fun.”
The enjoyment of the game can be difficult to remember for the team frequently on the wrong end of the score.
“Basically, you have a goal for each shift,” Wickenheiser says. “It might be get a shot on net or win one battle in the corner. Essentially, after the score gets so high, you have to keep your team motivated as much as you can. I think what a lot of players out here kind of forget is we’re here to have fun. An 11-0 game, it’s hard, but you have to find it within yourself to go out there and remember that you play this game for fun. That’s kind of where I find my motivation when it gets down like that.”
Her coach realizes that his staff needs to keep things as enjoyable as possible for their players.
“We’re learning from these games, but it’s hard to lose a whole lot of games in a season, so try to work things, make things fun,” O’Mara says. “It was a great weekend up here. The Hockey Hall of Fame was fantastic, the rink here — experiences are what we wanted to give the kids this year, too.”
Fairchild is enjoying the experience beyond hockey at Lindenwood, a school with a total enrollment at 15,000, of which 8,787 are full-time students.
“I love the campus, and I love like the social atmosphere,” she says. “There’s so much to do. Because it’s not a huge school, but it’s not a little school. I’ll meet somebody, and I’ll see them the next day. It’s not like you’ll meet someone at a football game and you’ll never see them again. It’s nice.”
Lindenwood has been admitted to the CHA for next season, along with Penn State.
“We’re definitely going to have a full D-I schedule,” O’Mara says. “Are we ready? I’ll let you know next September. With the rigorous travel schedule we have this year, we’re not out on the recruiting trail as much as we’d like, but we do have a lot of kids that we’re talking to, a lot that we’re working with, so if we do our job, yes, we’re ready. Does that mean we’re going to be there next year? No, but we sat down as an institution with our administration and our coaching staff and we said we want to compete by our third year. Some people say that’s too big, too quick, but that’s a goal we’ve set, and I’d like to accomplish that goal.”
After five more road games versus D-I opponents Syracuse, Mercyhurst, and North Dakota, the Lions schedule shifts to playing D-II, D-III and club teams in the second half of the current season.
“That second part of the schedule, hopefully, we have some confidence-building games,” O’Mara says. “On our end!”
Wickenheiser understands that the hard lessons on the ice are just part of the dues that she and her teammates have to pay.
“Every other team in these leagues had to struggle when they joined, and I’m sure that they went through the exact same things, and now it’s our turn.”
Massachusetts-Lowell’s improvement could lead it to be a major player in Hockey East
OK, folks. Let’s start this week out with a bit of a brain teaser.
What Hockey East team ranks highest nationally in offense?
Not sure yet? OK, this same team has the best power play nationally among Hockey East teams.
Boston College, you say? Nope. Merrimack? Still wrong.
I’ll give you one more clue. This team has one of the nation’s most improved offenses, scoring 3.88 goals per game compared to just 2.44 goals per game last year.
The team that currently lays claim to all of these: none other than the Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks.
Lowell, under first-year coach Norm Bazin, is in the process of a true renaissance in the Merrimack Valley. A team that won just five games a season ago, finishing dead last in Hockey East, has already matched that win total well before Thanksgiving and is coming off three wins that raised eyebrows of most fans around the league.
It’s possible that since the opening weekend of Lowell’s season, hopes and expectations should have been raised. The River Hawks posted a road sweep of Minnesota State to begin. But they were brought back to Earth by a loss to Connecticut and a sweep at the hands of then-No. 1 Boston College.
Visions of grandeur had certainly been tamed.
But as quickly as people began to turn their heads away, they’ve been turned back. A crushing defeat of Boston University two weekends ago was followed by the team’s first two-game sweep of Maine in Orono since 1985, Hockey East’s inaugural season.
All three of the recent victories have been extremely different. The BU win was a 7-1 crushing of a Terriers team that scored 16 seconds into the game and then watched the River Hawks skate circles around them for the remaining 59-plus minutes. In Friday’s win over Maine, Lowell built a three-goal lead and never looked back. Then Saturday, the River Hawks fought back from two goals down in the third and broke a 3-3 tie in the game’s final minute to walk away with the sweep.
“They were three vastly different types of games,” said Bazin. “The character of the team is an ongoing process and ours is a work in progress. But we’re finding a lot out about our guys after every weekend.”
One thing his club has found out over the last two weekends is that it can score. In the weekend sweep again Boston College three weeks ago, Lowell outshot the Eagles in both games. In the end, though, the difference on the scoreboard was Lowell’s inability to finish. Since then, that has changed.
“Finishing chances has been one of the focal points of practice since day one,” said Bazin. “Boston College, they’re a very good hockey team, but we felt we played well enough to win at least one of those two games. We certainly generated a lot of chances and shots but we weren’t able to execute at net front.
“These past two weekends, in these three games, for whatever reason, we have been able to execute so it’s a nice change of pace.”
The sudden offensive resurgence for Lowell has come from multiple sources. Twelve different River Hawks players have netted goals this season, led by Riley Wetmore with six. Five players are averaging a point a game or better. That depth is what Bazin hopes can help catapult his team toward the top of the league standings.
“It’s necessary for any team in college hockey to have depth in scoring to be a threat,” said Bazin. “You look at all the good teams we have played thus far and a lot of them have that depth. We’re just trying to develop our players from within.”
If there remains any question mark for the River Hawks, it’s probably goaltending. There was a competition for the starting position in training camp, and it seems as though the recent play of sophomore Doug Carr had propelled him to the No. 1 job, but that’s not the case, Bazin said.
“Carr is certainly making a good case for himself [to be No. 1],” Bazin said. “But we haven’t settled on a No. 1 yet and we’re still giving kids chances.
“We’re not looking too far ahead. The goaltending situation has been a work in progress from one week to the next. However, Doug had two good outings last week and he deserves a second look.”
Not lost on anyone that follows the Lowell program is that the program’s rebirth coincides with the arrival of Bazin, a quasi-native son who played for the River Hawks in their heyday in the mid-1990s and then was an assistant coach with the club under Tim Whitehead at the end of that decade.
Since Bazin left in 2000, the school has changed in many ways, he said, though all are for the best. A major investment led by Chancellor Marty Meehan, who arrived at Lowell four years ago, is not only making the campus more attractive, but built out the campus separated by the Merrimack River.
A major focus has been placed on increasing the number of residential students at a college that long has been thought of as a commuter school. Lowell’s hockey attendance this season is averaging more than 5,000 per game, and that to Bazin is a major step in the right direction.
“I hope our team can sort of mimic the exciting progress [of building the campus] in that there are so many great things that are happening on campus and we’re happy to be a small part of it,” said Bazin.
If this Lowell team can continue to improve on the ice, the role it plays will hardly be small. In Hockey East, Lowell could become a major player.
Points don’t measure positive steps for Terriers
At the end of last weekend, the scoreboard for Boston University showed a weekend split: a loss on Friday to Merrimack and a win on Sunday at Boston College.
Two points might satisfy some, but not usually a program that hopes to compete for a national championship each year.
If anything, you might think that the way that the Friday loss occurred would upset a coach. BU led Merrimack 2-1 in the closing minutes, only to take a late penalty, see the Warriors pull goaltender Joe Cannata for an extra attacker in the final two minutes and score to force overtime. Merrimack netted the winner just 22 seconds into the extra frame to hand BU a loss.
Now, quite possibly it was a 5-0 drubbing of rival Boston College on Sunday that had BU coach Jack Parker thinking positive, but his commentary that he really liked the way his team played throughout the weekend certainly seemed very sincere.
“Our team felt like a BU hockey team this weekend,” said Parker, referring to his team’s solid play in both games.
The Terriers entered the weekend coming off an ugly 7-1 loss to Lowell the previous weekend, something that stewed with the team through the off days.
“The absolute lack of effort, lack of respect or both up at UMass-Lowell,” said Parker, “they were embarrassed by that and they came out fired up to play.
“It was nice that we had the two top teams in our league to play this weekend after how we played last weekend,” said Parker. “That was good for our egos, our psyches.”
A note about the polls
It’s almost certain that the folks in North Andover, Mass., were waiting with baited breath for the weekly polls to come out Monday. And with good reason.
Merrimack, a team that has never held a No. 1 ranking nationally, began last weekend sixth in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll. Each of the teams from first through fifth lost a game last weekend. Merrimack, with its overtime win at BU, remained the only team in the nation without a loss.
When the polls came out, the Warriors had the most first-place votes among the 50 voters with 25, or half of the available votes. As we all know by now, Minnesota, which got just 20 votes, held onto the top spot by the slimmest of margins.
The exact same thing happened in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.
That may have left the Warriors faithful thinking, “What the !@#$?”
Now, before you all jump down my throat that polls are useless, polls are just opinions, of course I agree. Thus, so does worrying about a poll.
But there is a certain je ne sais quoi that goes along with being No. 1, particularly if it would be the first time in team history.
I’ll be the first to say that a jump from sixth to first is a big one in any poll. And, I will also admit that I actually voted Minnesota first, Merrimack second.
My reasoning was that Minnesota has played a more difficult schedule to this point. Though the Gophers have played some cupcakes (ahem, Sacred Heart), they’ve also faced the defending national champions, along with North Dakota and Wisconsin.
Merrimack’s toughest opponent thus far is Boston University. The Warriors tied and needed overtime to beat Northeastern, which sits at 1-7-2. What probably seemed like a great win at Maine to begin the season has since been devalued by Maine’s recent play and a 3-6-1 record.
So while Merrimack may feel slighted, it’s important to understand there will be plenty of time to reach that No. 1 ranking. There’s been so much volatility at the top this season, success in the upcoming weeks could also translate to that top ranking.
Caution, though: The fact that Merrimack didn’t reach No. 1 despite amassing the most first-place votes does raise one red flag to me. It means that there are enough voters that don’t respect the Warriors enough to even consider them for second, third or maybe even fourth.
Thus, any slipup, particularly in the coming schedule that includes Alabama-Huntsville, Providence and Vermont, could result in a major drop.
Therein lies the rub with polls. It takes time to earn the respect to get to the top and it takes respect to stay there. For Merrimack, though, there will be ample opportunity to prove its ability to succeed where it really counts: on the ice.
Quick hits
• Providence, which Dave featured last week, continues to roll. The Friars were perfect in their four-game home stand (the team’s first four-game winning streak since 2008-09). The real test, though, will come in the six games before the holiday break, five of which will be played away from Schneider Arena and three of which will be against the league’s top teams, Merrimack (for two) and Boston College.
• A tip of the hat to Massachusetts defenseman Conor Allen, who became just the third blueliner in school history to record a hat trick, netting it on Friday against Holy Cross.
• I have to wonder if Saturday’s come-from-behind 4-4 tie for Vermont against New Hampshire might turn this team around. Vermont has the talent but to date just hasn’t performed as expected.
Playing healthy puts goaltender Komm at a higher level for Bentley
Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist takes the “what have you done for me lately?” approach with his goaltenders, and so far this year, that means sophomore Branden Komm has been the go-to guy.
“Coach goes with the hot hand, so you’re only as good as your last game or practice,” Komm said.
And in Komm’s case, the recent history is pretty good. On Monday, he was named Atlantic Hockey goalie of the week for picking up two wins last weekend, allowing just a single goal in each game. Komm has a .929 save percentage so far this season, fourth-best in the league.
Komm said he thinks his play in early non-conference games helped him earn the starting job.
“We played some tough teams — Michigan, UMass, Quinnipiac,” said Komm. “I saw a lot of shots in those games.”
Komm hails from Williamsville, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo. He played in seven games his freshman year, competing for time with a pair of upperclassmen, Joe Calvi and Kyle Rank.
“It was frustrating because I would play, get injured, play, and then get injured again,” he said.
Playing healthy and more consistently has earned him four wins after posting just one last season. One of Komm’s most satisfying victories to date was a 2-0 win at Canisius, his first shutout. The win was special, coming in his hometown.
“It was fun,” he said. “There were about 25 family and friends there. It was nice to come home and play well.”
The Falcons’ next challenge is a pair of games at Mercyhurst this weekend. The Lakers like to run and gun, especially at home.
“Every league game is so important,” said Komm. “And they’re an explosive team. Everyone’s going to have to help out. If we win, it will be a team win.
“This year, the team is very close. The leaders are doing a great job. The closer you are, the better you go.”
New digs
Rochester Institute of Technology’s quest for a new rink took a big step last Friday, when it was announced that the Polisseni Foundation and B. Thomas Golisano, former owner of the Buffalo Sabres, had contributed $4.5 million toward the project. The new facility will be named the Gene Polisseni Center, in honor of Polisseni, a friend and colleague of Golisano. Polisseni, who died in 1991, was heavily involved in youth hockey in the Rochester, N.Y., area.
“This is an extraordinary partnership that provides a giant step toward our goal of creating the highest quality game-day experience for our players, students and the fans of RIT hockey throughout the local community,” said RIT president William Destler. “The support of the Polisseni Foundation and our long-time benefactor and friend Tom Golisano heightens our resolve to make that a reality.”
RIT hopes to break ground on the proposed $30 million facility in the fall of 2012.
Players of the week
From the home office in Haverhill, Mass.:
Atlantic Hockey player of the week:
Jay Silvia, Holy Cross
The senior forward had two goals and an assist to help the Crusaders to a 1-1 weekend.
Atlantic Hockey goalie of the week:
Branden Komm, Bentley
Komm allowed just two goals last weekend to help the Falcons pick up four points. He made 31 saves on Friday in a win over American International and 40 on Saturday in a win at Army.
Atlantic Hockey rookie of the week:
Chris Bodo, Mercyhurst
The forward from St. Thomas, Ontario, had two goals and an assist last weekend to help the Lakers to a split. He had a goal in a 4-3 loss to Robert Morris and a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win against Air Force.
Came to play
Air Force was swept last weekend, but it wasn’t senior Tim Kirby’s fault. The all-star defenseman had an excellent weekend, posting a pair of goals and an assist. Kirby has 67 career points to date, including 16 goals.
All in the family
Army rookie defenseman Maurice Alvarez helped the Black Knights to their first win of the season on Saturday, with a goal and an assist in the 2-1 win. Alvarez was paired with his brother Marcel, a senior and three-time league all-star.
Welcome back
RIT goaltender Shane Madolora had a successful return from a five-game suspension by the NCAA for an eligibility infraction. Seeing his first action since Oct. 15, the senior stopped 25 of 26 shots to lead the Tigers to a 3-1 win over Air Force last Friday. RIT is 1-3-1 without Madolora in net, but 2-0-1 when he is in goal. Madolora has a 1.96 goals against average and a .930 save percentage so far this season.
A little help here
You’d expect a goalie with a .922 save percentage and a 2.99 goals against average to be at least .500, but so far American International goalie Ben Meisner is just 2-7-1. The Yellow Jackets are struggling offensively, scoring two goals or fewer in nine of their 11 games played so far.
King of all media
The always quotable Frank Serratore, coach at Air Force, is known for his press conferences and radio and TV appearances. Serratore is now taking a turn as a writer, penning a piece for USA Hockey Magazine on the type of recruits he looks for and the benefits of a service academy education. It’s worth checking out.
Special teams heading in opposite directions for Minnesota, St. Cloud State
For those expecting to see a mismatch this weekend between Minnesota’s power play and St. Cloud State’s penalty kill, the numbers might be deceiving.
The No. 1 Gophers have the nation’s sixth-ranked power play at 26.7 percent and the Huskies penalty kill is 41st in the country at 78.8 percent going into this weekend’s home-and-home series, but look at how each of the respective units has played in the weeks leading up.
The Minnesota power play is ice cold, scoring just four goals in 27 tries over the past six games. The struggles have come against some of the worst penalty kills in the land.
The Gophers’ PP scored twice in six tries against Alaska-Anchorage’s penalty kill Oct. 28-29. The Seawolves’ PK is 74.2 percent, not including games against Minnesota. The Gophers went 1-for-14 against North Dakota (78.1 percent) and 1-for-7 against Wisconsin (69 percent). Those percentages were also calculated without the games against Minnesota.
“We’ve got to get pucks to the net,” Minnesota defenseman Nate Schmidt said of the Gophers’ power-play unit. “That’s the biggest thing that we have been struggling with, and we haven’t been making the goalie work for saves.
“Sometimes it’s just whoever gets the most pucks to the net and gets a grinding, dirty goal.”
“When you don’t have as much success [on the power play] all of a sudden you try to get cute and make seam passes and get back-door tap-ins,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. “Whether it’s our level or any level, you watch NHL highlights and how many are just pounded pucks to the net and outnumbering people around the crease for rebound goals?”
The Minnesota power play started off 12-for-33 (36.4 percent) and the team was 6-0. Meanwhile, SCSU’s penalty kill got off to a dismal 16-for-22 start (72.7 percent), but has picked it up lately.
“We’ve been relying on our system and we’ve been cutting other teams’ chances to score on the power play,” said SCSU captain Ben Hanowski, in his first year as a regular on the PK. “Working hard to get the pucks out has been huge for us lately.”
“If you look at video, it’s not like teams do things a whole lot different,” Lucia said of opposing penalty kills. “It’s pretty much the same. It’s still about execution, it’s still about trying to create a two-on-one, it’s still about trying to deliver pucks to the net.”
The Huskies killed off all seven penalties Oct. 28 against North Dakota, although freshman goalie Ryan Faragher had to make 20 saves against the Sioux power play. The SCSU PK had a perfect night seven days later in the first game of a two-game series against Wisconsin, but the next night allowed two late power-play goals, allowing the Badgers to tie the game.
To the Huskies’ credit, they had killed off 2:11 of a five-minute major penalty before Wisconsin’s first power-play goal. The SCSU PK is 25-of-30 in the last six games.
Opposing power plays have to watch out for sneaky-fast Travis Novak on the SCSU PK. One of the quickest skaters in the WCHA, he creates short-handed opportunities for the Huskies.
Of course, the kill has gotten a lot of work as the Huskies have racked up 133 penalty minutes over the past six games (22.2 minutes per game). SCSU had 69 penalty minutes in the first six games (11.5 minutes per game). The Huskies are the eighth-most penalized team in the nation.
“One of the things that’s been unusual is that St. Cloud has taken a lot of penalties this year, including a lot of five-minute majors,” said Lucia. “Normally they’re one of the least penalized teams within our league.
“So I’m sure when we go in there, that’s been stressed and I don’t think we’ll get a lot of looks there this weekend.”
The Huskies need to maintain their penalty kill play to beat the Gophers, especially with many of their top offensive threats in a cast and a freshman goaltender that hasn’t seen as much talent up front as the Minnesota has.
Hanowski is SCSU’s last captain standing after Mike Lee went out indefinitely three weeks ago with a lower-body injury and Drew LeBlanc suffered a broken leg.
“Losing those two guys is hard to swallow,” Hanowski said. “Not having [Lee and LeBlanc] is really tough. A few of our other seniors have really stepped up. I’m kind of the vocal guy of the three and now I’m just trying to get better, have a good attitude and lead by example and be one our hardest workers.”
Without Lee in net, Faragher has stepped up for the Huskies and got his first collegiate win in a 44-save shutout Oct. 28 at North Dakota. His save percentage is .925.
Minnesota stays on top
Minnesota is ranked first in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll again despite splitting with unranked Wisconsin over the weekend. What kept the Gophers at the top was that the rest of the top five went 1-5-1 last weekend. For the record, teams ranked in the top five have gone 30-21-3 this season.
Top-five teams have swept their opponents seven times, three by Boston College. Western Michigan is the first top-five team to be swept. The No. 1 ranking has changed hands four times this season but Minnesota is the first WCHA team to be ranked first.
The real oddity was that Minnesota garnered the top ranking despite getting five fewer first-place votes than No. 2 Merrimack, but the Gophers edged Merrimack in voting points 963-949. Merrimack is tops in the PairWise Rankings and Minnesota leads the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.
Road tripping
In typical understated fashion, Michigan Tech coach Mel Pearson said his team’s current road trip is “not the perfect trip.”
The No. 15 Huskies’ 12-day expedition from Houghton to northern New York and back with a short detour through Anchorage, Alaska, is indeed far from perfect.
“Usually when you play in Alaska you come home and you’re home the next weekend or off,” Pearson said on his weekly radio show. “But the way the scheduling is, we have to go out to Canton, N.Y. Canton is not the easiest place to get to and we’re off school so we just felt it was best to come back from Alaska and stay on the road.”
After Saturday night’s game against the Seawolves, the Huskies will catch a red-eye flight out of Anchorage and arrive in the morning in Chicago, where they will spend a few days.
While being mindful of keeping the team fresh considering the grueling travel schedule, Pearson said it was important that his players stay busy while in the Windy City.
“We had to find a place where we could practice, leave our stuff, and have a workout facility and everything, and we did that,” said Pearson. “One of the local schools down in Illinois is going to help us out with that, so that came together.”
On Wednesday, the Huskies depart Chicago on a flight to Buffalo, N.Y., where they will board a bus for the four-hour trip to Canton and that weekend’s non-conference series with St. Lawrence. The Huskies will share Thanksgiving dinner together in the team hotel in Canton.
“I’ve never been on a trip this long other than when I played,” said Pearson. “When I played back at Tech, way back when, we played Colorado College one weekend, spent the whole week, and played Denver the next weekend.
“I can’t remember how we did on the ice but, you know, we got to see a lot of things, and it was a great experience.
“It’s not the ideal trip but it’s on the schedule and we have to play it and we have to make sure we’re ready to play hard and be successful.”
‘Steady’ Eddie makes the Hall
Former North Dakota goaltender Eddie Belfour was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday. He won 29 games in the 1986-87 season, helping the Fighting Sioux to the national championship in his only season at UND.
Although undrafted, Belfour was courted by the Chicago Blackhawks following a season in which he went 29-4-0 with a 2.43 goals against average and .915 saves percentage. But according to Nebraska-Omaha coach Dean Blais, who was a North Dakota assistant at the time and later served as head coach of the Sioux, Belfour nearly didn’t leave Grand Forks for Chicago alone.
“Gino Gasparini, the head coach, was considering going to the Blackhawks and he bailed out at the last minute and Eddie didn’t,” Blais said on his weekly radio show. “Eddie signed with them and won a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars a few years later.”
Belfour went on to win the Calder Trophy (NHL’s top rookie) in 1991, two Vezina Trophies (NHL’s best goalie) and four William M. Jennings Trophies (fewest goals allowed) over an 18-year career. He finally got his name etched on the Stanley Cup in 1999 with the Stars.
Blais recalled Belfour’s unique auditioning process for the North Dakota coaching staff.
“He would drive down [to Grand Forks] from Carman, Manitoba, about an hour and a half, and scrimmage at night with the pros and drive back that night so he could work the next morning,” said Blais. “He would do that three times a week so he put a lot of miles on his car and a [showed] lot of dedication. He was playing so well that he earned himself a scholarship.”
Although Blais and the Sioux staff had no idea Belfour would accomplish what he did in that single season, he said Belfour was a special player.
“He was the first one on the ice every day and hated to get beat on any shot at any time,” Blais said. “He was a triathlete so, obviously, he was in real good shape, real good condition and really specific about his equipment. Eddie would take a half an hour sharpening his own skates.”
Dayn Belfour, Eddie’s son and current Nebraska-Omaha goaltender, was present at the induction ceremony in Toronto.
WCHA players of the week
Offensive: Minnesota-Duluth senior forward Jack Connolly
Connolly assisted on two goals and scored twice himself to have a hand in half of the WCHA’s hottest team’s eight goals in its weekend sweep of Alaska-Anchorage. Connolly’s 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) ties him for second in overall scoring among WCHA players. His goal and assist in each game against UAA extends Connolly’s point-scoring streak to 10 games.
Defensive: Minnesota-Duluth senior goaltender Kenny Reiter
This marks the second consecutive week Reiter has earned this honor. Reiter recorded his second consecutive shutout and third in four games in Friday night’s 5-0 UMD win. His shutout streak reached a school-record 166:45 before Alaska-Anchorage’s Eric Scheid scored at 5:18 of the first period on Saturday. Reiter stopped 60 of 61 shots in the series and is 6-0-2 with a 1.23 goals against average and a .955 saves percentage in his last eight games.
Rookie: Nebraska-Omaha freshman forward Josh Archibald
Archibald notched a goal and an assist in each game last weekend as the Mavericks tied and won (3-3, 5-1) at Bemidji State. The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect was also a plus-5 in plus/minus rating against the Beavers and has a four-game point-scoring streak to his credit.
“Josh Archibald’s a good two-way player, never hurts you defensively, physical when he has to be and he’s got a pretty good scoring touch,” Blais said on his radio show. “Obviously, to be second in the state of Minnesota in scoring tells you right away that he’s got that ability, although we didn’t think he’d be scoring at this pace right now being a freshman right out of high school.”
NESCAC 2011-2012 conference preview
The NESCAC begins its standalone schedule this coming weekend, and if past performance in the interlocking schedule with the ECAC East supplies any barometer for what is to come, this may be the most competitive conference in the country. Last season, the top seven teams in the league finished with records over .500, five of the seven had 10 or more wins in conference play, and a mere six points separated first from seventh in the league.
This season sees two games between all of the teams, which places a higher premium on the points, and likely continues the overall close results and positioning within the conference standings — there are seriously no nights off.
The first season of the new conference format also brings in three new coaches. Dave Cataruzolo at Trinity has moved on to lead hockey operations at Harvard, and has been replaced by former Bantam Matt Greason. Norm Bazin, now at his alma mater of Massachusetts-Lowell, has been replaced by former Army assistant Rob Haberbusch, and veteran college coach Stan Moore heads behind the bench at Colby, where Jim Tortorella has left to become an assistant at UNH under Dick Umile.
New coaches, new players, new schedule, all will create new excitement, but I think one thing will remain a constant in this new separate conference — all of the games are going to be close, and the standings are going to be tight right up until the last day of the season.
Here’s what may come to fruition come the end of February:
Williams Ephs
2010-11 Conference record: 11-6-2 (Second)
2010-11 Overall record: 16-8-3
USCHO Predicted finish: First
Overview: The Ephs were at or near the top all season last year, and will rely heavily on a strong returning core of defensemen and a terrific goaltender. Ryan Scott, Justin Troiani, and Stephen Maier look to continue their solid play in front of netminder Ryan Purdy, who demonstrated his ability to be among the best in the league last season. John Wickman and Cody Skinner return up front and will be counted on to jump start an offense that will likely see a lot of freshmen in the line-up from the first drop of the puck. The Ephs don’t need to score much, because they won’t give up a lot. This may be the year for that first NESCAC title.
Bowdoin Polar Bears
2010-11 Conference record: 11-7-1 (Fifth)
2010-11 Overall record: 19-8-1
USCHO Predicted finish: Second
Overview: Last year’s conference champions have lost a bit with the departures of Kyle Shearer-Hardy and Jeff Fanning, but return a very talented offensive team led by Daniel Weiniger, Harry Matheson, and Colin Downey who can put up points in bunches. Senior Jordan Lalor leads the defense in front of a pair of solid goaltenders in Steve Messina and Richard Nerland. This team has depth and the experience of a title and NCAA run last year. If the offense is anywhere close to last year’s scoring and power play averages, the Polar Bears will be poised for another run at the crown.
Amherst Lord Jeffs
2010-11 Conference record: 10-6-3 (Fourth)
2010-11 Overall record: 11-14-3
USCHO Predicted finish: Third
Overview: Jack Arena’s team brings back a lot of experience, both on the blue line and in goal. One returnee adds depth in goal, where the departure of Cole Anderson created a void for the Lord Jeffs. Jonathan LaRose has returned to Amherst for his senior year, and if he and Nathan Corey can post numbers like the duo of LaRose and Anderson did, Amherst will be right in the thick of things yet again. Eddie Effinger and Mark Colp will need to provide some senior leadership with a young group of forwards that is likely to include a mix of six or seven freshmen and sophomores. Amherst always excels on special teams and stingy defense. The pieces are here for a repeat of the formula that won their first title in 2009.
Middlebury Panthers
2010-11 Conference record: 9-5-5 (Third)
2010-11 Overall record: 11-8-6
USCHO Predicted finish: Fourth
Overview: The Panthers are perennial challengers for the NESCAC championship. This year, the offense appears potent with the return of seniors Charlie Strauss, Charles Nerbak, Nick Resor, and Martin Drolet. Defensively, Trevor Pollack, Tucker Donohoe, and Mathieu Castonguay will lead the group in support of John Yanchek in goal, who will be looking to be more consistent in his senior year for the Panthers. The Panthers were in several cases just minutes or seconds away from wins last year that turned into ties or losses. If they figure out how to close games out early this season, no one will be surprised to see them near the top of the standings.
Hamilton Continentals
2010-11 Conference record: 11-4-4 (First)
2010-11 Overall record: 14-7-4
USCHO Predicted finish: Fifth
Overview: Last year’s Cinderella story saw their regular season first place run dashed in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Rob Haberbusch comes over to replace Norm Bazin, so there is a consistent D-I feel behind the bench, but also a change in style, so it will be interesting to chart the progress with the new coach and system. Seniors Bryan Kelly, Anthony Scarpino, and BJ Lalonde will be looked to help this team develop quickly, as there are likely to be four to five freshmen in the lineup every night. Goaltending is a question mark for the Continentals, with freshman Zach Arnold battling with two other goaltenders for the starting job. Hamilton isn’t going to sneak up on anybody this year, and they will have difficulty in matching last year’s road team success. If they gel quickly, this team could surprise in March.
Wesleyan Cardinals
2010-11 Conference record: 8-10-1 (Eighth)
2010-11 Overall record: 10-12-3
USCHO Predicted finish: Sixth
Overview: This may be the best team coach Chris Potter has had in Middletown. There is great leadership in forwards Tom Salah and Adam Kaiser, and great depth among a large group of returning juniors, including John Guay and the goalie tandem of Matt Hadge and Glen Stowell. The Cardinals have always played a strong defensive game, so their success this year is really predicated on finding the net with more frequency in even-strength and power-play situations. As they showed last year in defeating the top-seeded Continentals on the road, this team can compete with everybody. They just need some early success to start believing it sooner.
Colby White Mules
2010-11 Conference record: 10-7-2 (Sixth)
2010-11 Overall record: 12-11-2
USCHO Predicted finish: Seventh
Overview: Coach Stan Moore inherits a Colby squad that has some returning firepower in forwards Michael Doherty, Nick Kondiles, and Michael Smigelski. The biggest question for Colby will be who can step up and take the goaltending position and replace the departed four-year starter Cody McKinney. Under coach Tortorella, defense, goaltending, and special teams won hockey games. It will be interesting to see the style of play coach Moore brings to Colby, and how quickly his team grows confident in their play. The right goaltender could have a lot to do with building that confidence.
Trinity Bantams
2010-11 Conference record: 9-8-2 (Seventh)
2010-11 Overall record: 11-10-4
USCHO Predicted finish: Eighth
Overview: Matt Greason returns to Trinity, where he played in the early 2000s, as just the third coach in the program’s history. One of his first challenges will be finding the successor to the long line of goaltending standouts most recently led by Wes Vesprini, who has graduated. Two freshmen will battle with sophomore Benjamin Coulthard for ice time, while seniors Mike DeMayo, Joe Tierney, and Paul Jaskot will be counted on heavily for leadership on and off the ice with a team that has nine freshmen and five sophomores on the roster. No doubt coach Greason will bring energy to the Bantams, and that may be enough to keep them in the hunt while they build experience.
Tufts Jumbos
2010-11 Conference record: 5-14-0 (Tenth)
2010-11 Overall record: 6-16-1
USCHO Predicted finish: Ninth
Overview: Just as Jonathan LaRose has returned to Amherst, so too has Scott Barchard to the goal for Brian Murphy’s Tufts squad. The senior captain will need to be on his game to support a team that is short on veteran players. Forward Matt Amico and defenseman Nick Metcalfe will also provide leadership to a group that is going to very inexperienced at the college level to start the season. Barchard is a proven netminder who can steal games in the most dire of circumstances. If he stays healthy and the freshmen adjust quickly, coach Murphy will have the Jumbos in contention.
Connecticut College Camels
2010-11 Conference record: 6-12-1 (Ninth)
2010-11 Overall record: 7-14-3
USCHO Predicted finish: Tenth
Overview: Coach Jim Ward’s team has seen several seasons with first and second half roller-coaster rides dictating their season. A strong start out of the gate would help build momentum, so the coach will need to see strong early performances from the likes of forwards Sean Curran and Julien Boutet, as well as goaltender Andrew Margolin. Last season, only seven players on the roster played all of the games for the Camels. Staying healthy and creating more offense will be keys to a playoff drive for Conn College. If they get those two things, anything could happen come March.
From top-to-bottom this league has talented players, experienced coaches and different styles of play that you don’t see every night at a hockey game. This season should be full of lots of twists and turns and ups and downs. The mix of the old and now new coaching philosophies will provide even more variety to what already is a diverse group of playing styles and systems.
Always the last to start the season but always worth the wait — drop the puck!
Nazareth to join ECAC West for inaugural 2012-13 season
Nazareth College has been accepted for membership in the ECAC West, joining longtime members Elmira, Hobart, Manhattanville, Neumann and Utica.
The Golden Flyers, a new program in Division III hockey located in Pittsford, N.Y., a Rochester suburb, will begin competition in the fall of 2012.
“We think that top to bottom, this is one of the top conferences in the country,” said Nazareth coach George Roll in a news release. “It could be tough for us coming out of the gate, but we’re excited about the opportunity that the ECAC has given us.”
League members will continue to play each other three times in the 2012-2013 season, resulting in a 15-game league schedule.
Nazareth will play its home games at the 2,300 seat Sports Centre at Monroe Community College, with its first home game against Geneseo on October 19, 2012.
“Nazareth will be an exceptional addition to the ECAC Men’s West ice hockey league,” ECAC commissioner Rudy Keeling said in a statement. “Their rich history of athletic success has paved the way for their men’s hockey program to be a strong contender immediately. The ECAC is excited to welcome the institution as our newest member.”
