Nazareth to join ECAC West for inaugural 2012-13 season

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November 16, 2011

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.”

Wednesday Women: Looking at the challengers

By Candace Horgan and Arlan Marttila

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November 16, 2011

Candace: Well Arlan, let’s start by addressing something from your blog. How much do we read into Cornell falling to Dartmouth? Yes, they had four players and their head coach at the Four Nations Cup, but they still had a lot of talent. They didn’t seem to have any trouble scoring, but Amanda Mazzotta gave up five goals. Is goaltending a shaky proposition for the Big Red if they run into a team willing to run and gun?

Arlan:Personally, I’d pretty much throw that game out when analyzing Cornell. The Big Red had a three-game skid a couple years ago while players were absent with Canada’s U-22 program, and that stretch made people underestimate a team that fell a marathon game short of a title. Look at Wisconsin. They won it all in 2009, couldn’t make it out of the WCHA’s first round without Mark Johnson, Meghan Duggan, and Hilary Knight in 2010, but were back on top when they returned in 2011.

The score versus Dartmouth, rather than serving as an indictment of Mazzotta, underscores how much Cornell relies on Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau. Last season, any goalie that skated into the Cornell crease put up strong numbers playing behind that duo. There were reports that Mazzotta was hit and shaken up versus Dartmouth, and she didn’t play against Harvard. The Big Red demonstrated last season that they could win with Lauren Slebodnick in net when Mazzotta was injured, and Slebodnick earned the win over Harvard, so I’m sure they’ll be fine either with or without Mazzotta.

Given Jillian Saulnier sure looks like the real deal, and Cornell already had snipers like Rebecca Johnston, Brianne Jenner, and Catherine White, do you think it is wise for opponents to even contemplate getting into a shootout with the Big Red?

Candace: Jillian Saulnier certainly looks like a terror to opposing goalies, and with Jenner and Johnston, the Big Red certainly have the players to put up big points. Nine-goal explosions in their opening games reinforce that. The problem I see for teams playing Cornell is that facing such offensive firepower, it might be well-nigh impossible to win a tight defensive game against them, so scoring a lot may be the only option. Honestly, the only teams I think have the depth and offensive capability to hang with Cornell are Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Let’s turn to Dartmouth now. The Big Green have certainly struggled so far this season, at times struggling to score goals, and at times struggling to prevent them. Losing to UNH after giving up leads of 3-1 and 4-3 may have helped them I think. They are undefeated in ECAC play. Are the Big Green trending upward?

Arlan: Maybe. How’s that for insightful prose? To date, the glass is half full for Dartmouth. Yes, the Big Green are unbeaten in the ECAC, but they are 0-2 out of conference, with only four nonconference games left — Northeastern and Vermont in Hanover, and on the road at UNH and Providence. Should they go 3-1 in those games, that leaves them with a mediocre 3-3 nonconference mark, not typically a building block for an at-large bid. Perhaps losing to the Wildcats provided motivation, but that incentive came at a cost.

However, as you say, Dartmouth is in great shape within the league, having their North Country and Ithaca trips out of the way without a loss. If it can take care of business in the games where it is favored, DC could easily wind up with a top-eight resume, on the basis of having few losses, although the schedule is a touch light and can’t support many setbacks. To date, Dartmouth is in early trouble in the RPI, falling outside the top 12.

A team that is in better shape with the computer is Harvard. The rest of November looks critical for the Crimson, as they entertain Clarkson, SLU, and Minnesota twice, while playing home-and-home with Dartmouth. What are your reactions to Harvard a few games into the season, and how do you see the Crimson performing over the next half-dozen games?

Candace: There’s a part of me that’s always happy when Harvard does well. I’m not really sure why. I remember being in college and watching the men’s team beat Minnesota in that OT epic. I’d like to see the women capture just one title, though I don’t think this will be the year. I think the Crimson are on the right track. They crushed St. Lawrence and beat Clarkson. If they can get out of the next month with a good record, they will be in excellent shape, because from January on, their schedule is light, as they have one game against Cornell, plus the Beanpot, where they play Boston University in the first game. The Minnesota series looms big for them for PairWise points, as do games against New Hampshire and Providence. The problem for the Crimson is goals. Aside from Jillian Dempsey, I don’t think they have a lot of natural goal scorers. A defenseman, Marissa Gedman, currently leads the team in scoring, although admittedly Dempsey has only played two games, since she was playing for Team USA, as were Josephine Pucci and Michelle Picard.

Speaking of Hockey East, this Thursday and Friday we’ll really get a feel for how good Northeastern is, as they take on Boston College in a home-and-home. Kendall Coyne just got some international experience playing for Team USA, which should have helped her development. Will the Eagles take momentum from the BU series, or are we looking at a split, or, dare I say it, a Huskies’ sweep?

Arlan: It is probably good for interest in the game when the Crimson are doing well, because like Notre Dame, casual fans pay more attention than they might to some random school. Although those that did not attend Harvard yet are happy when they succeed are typically in the minority in women’s hockey.

I’m anxious to see what Northeastern can do versus BC, and thanks to gonu.com, one should be able to at least watch a webcast of the Matthews Arena tilt on Thursday. Northeastern’s record to date is second only to that of the Badgers, but the Huntington Hounds haven’t exactly been facing juggernauts.They’ve proven that they can excel versus middle-of-the-pack teams; now the next seven-game sequence will reveal just how much noise we can expect from the Huskies this season. As for the Eagles carrying momentum from their win over the Terriers, I’d say that Northeastern’s six-game winning streak should carry at least as much “mo” as BC’s one-game streak coupled with a bye. I’m thankful that we don’t have to pick a winner for the Thursday game, because the only thing of which I’d be certain is that I’d get that one wrong. It doesn’t appear that anyone in Hockey East has hit their stride yet, so HEA teams are probably glad that decisive action is still a few months off.

We focus primarily on the higher-ranked teams, but it is nice to see that we don’t have any winless teams remaining, unlike last season when St. Cloud State found their first victory with only a couple of weeks to spare. Do you take that as a sign that “bad” teams aren’t nearly as overmatched as they recently were, and that we are getting closer to the day when every outcome is in doubt?

Candace: I am glad that at least every team has a win. I remember tracking St. Cloud last season and hoping they’d get at least one win. Yet I don’t think we can say that the outcome is in doubt at a certain point. I think what you are seeing is that the bottom of the rung teams are getting closer to some of the middle-of-the-pack teams, but put Cornell, Wisconsin, Boston College, Minnesota, etc. up against a team like St. Cloud, Yale, or even Vermont, and I’ll bet on the upper-echelon teams every time, and my guess is I’d be right about 99.99 percent of the time. Honestly, I don’t know if that will ever change. Sweden beating the U.S. in the 2008 Olympics aside, would you bet against the U.S. and Canada facing in the gold medal game? Those players that get that exposure don’t go to lower-rung teams; they want to play for Mark Johnson, for Katey Stone, for Doug Derraugh, etc., because those players know they have the best chance to develop and get a shot at a gold medal under those coaches. I think what may eventually happen is that you’ll have something like what is comparable to the AHA in men’s hockey, with squads in that conference playing competitively with top programs and occasionally knocking them off, as my alma mater, Holy Cross, did to Boston University this season. Speaking of, last week Chris Lerch wrote about the rumblings that both Holy Cross and Connecticut were exploring an alignment with Hockey East. The Crusader women would be impacted by that; currently, they play D-III teams but are a D-I squad. I’ve also heard rumors of RIT looking to jump to D-I and join the CHA, and Holy Cross exploring that possibility for its women’s team as well. Interesting speculation? Those two schools have a long tradition in hockey.

Arlan: You are correct that women’s hockey is not yet at the desired “on any given Sunday” point. But as time goes by, I do think it is evolving such that the games that are no contest are that way only because those few are that good, not that those near the bottom can’t play. Wisconsin swept SCSU last season in six games, but they also were perfect against Minnesota State, Ohio State, Bemidji State, and North Dakota.

When I spoke to Mike Sisti and Paul Flanagan about the CHA’s future, they both mentioned Holy Cross and RIT, in addition to Sacred Heart. RIT’s women appear willing to make the jump to D-I if the NCAA would sanction the move. For the Crusaders and Pioneers, the problem looks to revolve more around the financial commitment that would be necessary for their women’s programs to be D-I in more than name only. If either of them wind up in a league like the CHA or Hockey East without the intention to skate a competitive team, I’m not sure that really serves the best interests of the sport. BC had a women’s team for years, and it wasn’t until the prospect of losing to BU someday spurred them to action that they became a true player. That’s what encourages me about Lindenwood. Sure, they’ll take some lumps along the way — on some nights, many lumps — but they claim to be fully invested in running a competitive program, sooner rather than later. More on that on Thursday.

One team that has quietly put together a nice record to start the season is Robert Morris. Yes, half of the Colonials eight wins came at Lindenwood’s expense, and they really have yet to play anybody from the top half. Their only loss came via a split with Minnesota State, just like Mercyhurst. Could Paul Colontino’s new team be the one that makes his old squad, the Lakers, have to do more than show up to claim CHA titles?

Candace: I’m not ready to quite anoint Robert Morris as the team to rival Mercyhurst in the CHA. Do I think they have the talent to challenge them? Yes. Even counting that they have faced Lindenwood four times, you have to be excited about some of the players. Freshman Rebecca Vint is averaging two points a game. They have five players averaging more than a point a game, and only one is a senior, and then two more underclassmen, including freshman Katie Fergus, averaging .900 points game. I think Robert Morris could be dangerous when the team skates against Mercyhurst, as they will have played Bemidji and Providence in the weeks leading up it. They probably won’t win the CHA, but the Colonials could be the final nail in the Lakers’ chances at an at-large bid. Speaking of the Beavers, and to end this week, they have a big series this weekend against Minnesota-Duluth. It’s another chance for Bemidji to show they should be considered one of the upper-echelon teams in the WCHA.You wrote about the Beavers a couple of weeks ago; could Zuzana Tomcikova and company split or even sweep the Bulldogs?

Arlan: With Tomcikova in net and the team concept that the Beavers employ, they definitely are capable of upsetting anyone in a one-game scenario. They’ve proven to be more dangerous on home ice, but could pull a shocker that in retrospect isn’t all that shocking on the road as well. If they can put together a full 60 minutes, they can take down any league rival, even Wisconsin. However, this weekend there are a couple of additional factors working against BSU. The Bulldogs can’t afford more losses right now. They’ve fallen below .500, and in the early snapshots of the PWR, UMD isn’t even a team under consideration, while Bemidji State ranks 8th. So I expect UMD to be a hungry team coming out of the bye week and determined to defend home ice. Also, BSU’s Emily Erickson was injured in the Minnesota series and hasn’t played since. I think that she is their most creative offensive player, and they aren’t as dangerous without her. The Beavers will still have a chance, but their likelihood of getting points out of AMSOIL Arena decreases.

After winless month, road brings respite for St. Lawrence

By Brian Sullivan

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November 16, 2011

Oh-and-five is not the way most teams draw up their first month of play, and that goes double when adding a season-opening exhibition loss to Carleton. That wasn’t by design, either. But St. Lawrence did indeed fall out of the gate and straight onto its face with a home sweep at the hands of Ferris State, a coma-inducing 10-3 KO at Michigan, a heartbreaking 6-5 overtime loss at Rochester Institute of Technology and a much quieter — though no less depressing — 2-0 loss to Union at Appleton Arena.

Things didn’t look good for SLU, but a visit from Rensselaer on Nov. 5 gave the Saints just the reprieve they needed to get the wheels back on the track. A 2-0 win begat a 3-2 win at Princeton last Friday, and a white-knuckle, 1-0 victory at Quinnipiac on Saturday. It’s not a smooth upward arc just yet, but it beats the heck out of a vertical free fall.

“[Assistant coach] Greg Carvel’s brought some great ideas to the team; obviously with his last nine or 10 years at the NHL level — the last seven with the Ottawa Senators — he really knows systems,” said associate head coach Mike Hurlbut, guiding the team during veteran coach Joe Marsh’s medical leave.

“He’s brought some new ideas, and we’ve tweaked some of our traditional Joe Marsh aggressive forechecking and defensive zone systems, and I think it took guys a few games to adjust to those. It’s nothing Earth-shattering; we’re not trying to re-invent the wheel. It’s just a matter of putting a real consistent forecheck or zone together and holding guys accountable: Making sure they’re in the same place, and that every line knows what to do.”

The goals are still coming at a trickle rather than the desired flood, but St. Lawrence isn’t without its aces in the hole. Junior forward Kyle Flanagan has scored six goals and 13 points in eight games, and sophomore Greg Carey is averaging a point per game as well. As for the supporting staff … well, they’ll be along shortly, or so is the hope in Canton.

“We’ve had some key contributions from Patrick Doherty, who’s a freshman forward from the New Hampshire Monarchs,” Hurlbut said. “He’s played very well for us. Obviously, [Matt] Weninger is playing very well in the net.

“We haven’t scored a lot of goals … so we have to make sure we take care of our own zone first. It’s pretty much been a total team effort that’s contributed to this success. Obviously, Kyle Flanagan’s off to a tremendous start — he’s one of the most skilled forwards in all of Division I hockey, and he’s playing like that right now.”

Hurlbut and Carvel are in the unenviable position of trying to do about four coaches’ jobs between the two of them. Not only is Marsh taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with a recurring medical problem, but former SLU assistant Bob Prier is now holding the reins in Princeton.

“Greg and I are basically trying to co-coach this year,” Hurlbut said. “He’s great with the X’s and O’s and the video and preparing the team for the opponent. We’ve got [strength coach] Mike Elberty on right now to help us out as an assistant coach, and he’s taken some of the workload off by breaking video down. He’s always done our strength and conditioning, so I guess it’s coaching by committee here. We’re obviously hoping to have Joe back here sooner rather than later, but I think he feels that the team’s in pretty good hands with the three of us.

“We don’t talk to him every day; he’ll pop in every once in a while. He’s doing much better. I think in his situation, he wants to make sure he’s 100 percent and that this isn’t going to flare up on him again a week or two after he comes back. He doesn’t want us to be caught in that situation, so he’s taking his time. I don’t think he feels any rush to come back, but we certainly miss him. He’s the type of coach you can not replace. We’re not trying to be Joe Marsh; we’re just trying to do the best we can.”

In retrospect, the 0-5-0 start — while numerically nasty — wasn’t beyond reason in its ineptitude. Ferris State is 9-2-1 and ranked sixth in the nation. Michigan (7-3-2) is seventh. The Saints led RIT right up to the final minute, and Union, at 5-3-3, is 13th in this week’s poll.

One of Hurlbut’s biggest concerns out of the gate, and one that cost the Saints against such elite competition, was a lack of discipline and the ensuing special-teams play.

“We weren’t very disciplined [against Ferris State]. Guys, for whatever reason, forgot that they actually do call penalties,” he said. “We had some major lapses in judgment with some of the penalties and such and it cost us. Really, after the Ferris weekend, we’ve been much better in the discipline department. Our penalty kill is getting better. We’re trying to get our power play in order here; we’re having trouble scoring goals. We’ve moved the puck well, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to score goals with your power play and that’s one of our focuses going forward.”

At least he and the rest of his team now know that they have a quality backstop and defense that have kept the Cantonites competitive, even when the snipers have gone missing.

“Matt Weninger, we have a tremendous amount of confidence in him. He’s a very mature young man, and he’s played very well once we got into league play. But at the same time, the guys in front of him have played well, and limiting the Grade A scoring chances against him. And if there is a rebound, our defensemen are doing a good job of playing in front of the net, playing rebounds away. Matt made some great saves over the weekend, but at the same time, the guys have played real well in front of him.”

Check the tweets

Nobody runs the #ECACHockey (yes, that’s the hashtag) Twitter-verse like the Saints.

Not that the coaches know the first thing about it.

“I do not have anything to do with Twitter stuff. I actually don’t have a Twitter account, I don’t have a Facebook page,” Hurlbut said. “It’s probably a good idea if I don’t know what’s going on there. We’ve got a good group of guys, they’re pretty mature, and I’m sure there’s some entertaining tidbits out there, but I don’t pay attention to that stuff at all.”

Most of SLU’s early-season tweets (or chirps, since we are talking hockey here, after all) seemed to revolve around sophomore Kyle Essery’s hairdo. The tag #Esshasbrutalhair is growing cold, but it had legs for a while there.

“Yep, I could see that,” laughed the coach. “It’s also Movember, and we’ve got some interesting mustaches. I’m sure there are some interesting tweets concerning the facial hair that some of the guys have going right now. Pete Child had a good one going, then Gunnar Hughes seems to have overtaken him, but I did see the Just For Men darkening lotion in the bathroom there today, so I think they’re kinda cheating. Some of them needed to cheat, actually. There’s some interesting-looking facial hair, I can tell you that.”

Joy back in Troy again

Well, optimism, if not true joy just yet. Rensselaer kicked the skid on Saturday night, edging Brown 1-0 to end an eight-game losing streak. It wasn’t by any means a decisive or especially promising victory, seeing as the Engineers only barely ended a 210-minute goal drought, and that they lost to Union 5-1 on Tuesday and team has scored only seven goals in its last 10 games (shut out four times).

But as the Good Book of Sports Clichés says — right after “The game is 60 minutes,” but before the also-applicable “You can’t win if you don’t score,” is “A win’s a win.” And any win’s a good win when you’re on an 0-8-0 tumble.

“The score was what it’s going to have to be right now,” coach Seth Appert said before Tuesday’s loss, “as we’re fighting through some offensive confidence issues and getting over some injuries, we’re just going to have to be a team that wins a lot of ugly, 2-1, 1-0, 3-2 kind of games. The last three games we’ve played — and even the Colorado College games the weekend prior — we’ve done that. We’ve played that way and obviously it’s good to see the guys get rewarded for that, finally.

“We’re doing a lot of things well, we’re just really poor offensively right now and we’re just trying to work through that.”

Graduated talent is one component, having lost symbiotic super-snipers Chase Polacek and Tyler Helfrich, who combined for 86 points last season. But a bigger problem has been injuries, which have hit especially hard right down the middle.

“We had four centers out for a long stretch of time — I think it was four games,” Appert said. “We had Brock Higgs, Marty O’Grady, Jacob Laliberte and Matt Neal all out. [Greg] Burgdoerfer was out, [Mark] McGowan — another freshman — was out for a period of time as well. Most of those guys are back now — Matt Neal’s still out — but we were a much better team last weekend, having close to our full lineup intact, and that’s important, especially at the center position. I think our team faceoff percentage was around 43 percent, then last weekend we were at 59 percent on faceoffs. That’s a big difference, in starting your shifts with offensive possession instead of playing defense right away.

“We created more offensive chances this past weekend. We won more faceoffs, we had more possession time, which also made us a better defensive team. There’s a lot of things we’ve been doing fairly well, but the hardest thing to really control has been our offensive production and, you know, we’re struggling.”

Like the aforementioned Saints, Appert and RPI know that they can rely on their rearguard. Despite the early defection of goaltender Allen York, there has been no cause for concern in the Engineers’ crease.

“I think we started the year with the belief that [junior Bryce Merriam] was our No. 1. [Scott Diebold] is a freshman, and we like Scotty Diebold a lot — I think he’s going to be a great college goalie in time and with a lot of work — but we recruited Bryce to be a No. 1,” said Appert, a former goalie. “It just happened that he was behind one of the best goalies in college hockey [York], who has already played in the National Hockey League this year. I think what Bryce is showing right now is what his teammates knew all along: that he is a heck of a goalie, and maybe a really elite collegiate goalie in his own right. He just hasn’t had an opportunity to show that yet because of Allen York.”

To cut right to the chase, Appert doesn’t believe that this year’s Engineers team has the capability of scoring as prolifically as last year’s. It’s a new team with new talent, and that talent will have to discover its own road to success.

“I think we’re closer to embracing how we’re going to have to win this year. With that has come good team defense,” Appert said.

As part of that journey of self-discovery and self-actualization, the ultimate leaders of the squad will have to do their own soul searching and self-definition.

“I think Mike Bergin and Joel Malchuk are starting to step up and do a better job of that,” Appert said. “I think one thing that we knew as a staff, but we didn’t know exactly how to overcome it, was with the loss of that powerful senior class last year, that was a dominant force in our program — that whole class — for really three or four years. They drove us from being a real weak team to being a national tournament team and a team that was in the top 10 in the country for a lot of last year. But they also dominated the locker room, and now, this is the first time in their careers that guys like Alex Goulet and Mike Bergin and Joel Malchuk or Patty Cullen or Josh Rabbani are being looked to as, when it hits the fan, the guys are looking at those seniors now to see how we respond. They haven’t had that pressure before.

“I think originally, they probably didn’t deal with it that well, but I think they’re starting to grow comfortable with their own leadership style and with buying into what we want to be about every day and trying to hold their teammates to that standard.”

Mr. Movember

I can only tease you now, as I have yet to discover adequate photographic evidence, but it sounds like RPI’s icers are putting on a pretty good Movember show as well. The annual movement — started in Australia, where “mo” is slang for mustache — strives to draw attention to primarily male cancers, especially prostate cancer.

“Luke Curadi’s a redhead who has a dyed brown mustache going right now, which is quite a look for a 6-foot-5 redhead,” laughed Appert. “Alex [Angers-]Goulet’s is phenomenal — that’s as good as it gets. Mike Bergin had a pretty decent one going. I think that’s probably the best ones on our team. It would take me about four months for me to grow one, so I can’t partake like they can. Without question, I think Alex’s would probably be right up there in all of college hockey for a good ‘stache.”

Then there are the not-so-Mo ‘Tute-sters.

“Guys like Zach Schroeder, he’s got a pretty good baby face. I’m not sure he’s trying or not trying. I can’t tell right now,” poked the clean-shaven coach.

If anyone can fill the visual void from which this section is suffering, by all means find me on the Twitter machine at @SullivanHockey. I will be happy to retweet submissions to all my beautiful followers, stalkers, and aspiring child-support/alimony seekers.

Miami begins its ascent, while Bowling Green works between the ears

By Paula C. Weston

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November 16, 2011

Before the season began, nearly everyone knew that Notre Dame would be vying for first place in the CCHA standings by mid-November. Two months ago, though, if someone had suggested that the Fighting Irish would be tied in that top spot with a stubborn Lake Superior team and a seemingly resurgent Ohio State squad, no one would have listened.

It’s been a strange season for the CCHA following a stranger summer of dismantling, dislocation and — to some — dismay. For the first four weeks of conference play, some teams turned preseason expectations upside down while other teams seemed to be spinning in place. Two weeks ago, Miami appeared to be a team that would prove the preseason pundits wrong largely because the RedHawks were spinning in place; the RedHawks were winless in their first four league contests, every loss a close one.

A week ago, Miami was in eighth place with six points, three ahead of Bowling Green and Michigan State, who were tied for ninth, four ahead of last-place Alaska.

This week, the RedHawks host the Falcons and things look very different than just a few days ago. With five points earned at home against Michigan, Miami boosted its point total to 11 while Bowling Green gained none because of its nonconference series against Canisius. Now the Falcons are alone in 10th place and unable to catch Miami in the unlikely event of a BGSU sweep this weekend. The RedHawks, in eighth place and six points out of first, are on the rise.

RedHawks rising

“Honestly, I think everybody inside our program knew that we would have some difficult times ahead,” Miami coach Enrico Blasi said Tuesday. “We have very young freshmen with a lot of expectations and senior and junior classes that needed to understand their new roles. You put all that together and you have the potential for some ups and downs.”

The RedHawks (5-6-1, 3-4-1 CCHA) received preseason first-place votes in the CCHA coaches and media polls as well as the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, and so it was somewhat surprising — at least to those of us outside of the Miami hockey program — to witness Miami’s rocky start, which included a five-game losing streak that began with an Oct. 15 loss to Colgate and spanned Miami’s first two league series.

Blasi, however, remained unfazed. “We’ve always gone through a rough patch, no matter what year,” he said. “Every team goes through something. It just so happens that we went through it in October, hopefully. We were 30th in the PairWise in January and look at where we ended our season.

“I’m not putting much stock in October. I’m happy with where we’re at. There’s excitement to come to the rink. A lot of guys are energized.”

Part of the struggle is the adjustment to life after Hobey Baker Award winner Andy Miele, as well as his classmates Carter Camper and Pat Cannone. Between the three of them, Miele, Camper and Cannone scored 57 of Miami’s 146 overall goals in 2011-12, or just about 40 percent of the offensive output. “I’m sure there’s a little bit of a hangover from that,” said Blasi. “How could there not be?”

Miami’s offense finished the 2011-12 season with the fourth-best offense in the country, averaging 3.74 goals per game; through a dozen games this season, the RedHawks are scoring 2.33 goals per game (41st). It isn’t just the offense that’s struggling, though. The Miami defense is a work in progress as well, as the diminished numbers of seniors Cody Reichard (2.33 goals against average, .906 save percentage) and Connor Knapp (3.17, .888) reveal.

“We were making careless mistakes and backdoor goals,” said Blasi, “nothing that was the cause of their goaltending. Maybe one game each they’d like some goals back, but it’s just trying to figure out how things come together.

“Everything is — give or take a game here or there — everything is pretty much on schedule and I’ve always said that this team will be better in January than October. In the meantime, we’re learning how to play at a high level and guys are starting to figure things out and find their roles.”

Since slumping to begin league play, the RedHawks are 3-0-1 with a sweep of Alaska and those five points taken from Michigan last weekend. If all is as Blasi suspects — if the RedHawks are just taking a little time to balance some chemistry — that’s good news for Miami fans.

And that would be bad news for everyone else, beginning with the struggling Falcons.

Bigger and better, but not there yet

“Things are going better,” Bergeron said on Tuesday.

I believe him. Bergeron — an intense, high-energy guy in his second year in charge at BG — doesn’t sugarcoat anything.

“Unfortunately, we have physical issues where we’re not good enough,” said Bergeron. “That’s going to change with time. Things we’re fighting are mental.”

Bergeron, a Miami grad who played with Blasi and served as an assistant to Blasi for nine years in Oxford, inherited a mess in Bowling Green. Those aren’t words he’d use, but everyone in college hockey knows the story now. Under Scott Paluch — who also inherited more than he bargained for when he took over the job in 2002 — the Falcons saw several assistant coaches come and go, and the program itself was threatened with extinction until community and alumni support strengthened.

As a result, the Bowling Green program is rebuilding more than just a hockey team; it’s rebuilding a whole hockey culture.

“There’s a mental thing here we need to change,” said Bergeron. “I do think the guys expect more but I’m not sure they truly, truly believe that good is going to happen. We’re beating the teams that we’re supposed to beat on paper, but I think there’s more to us than there is right now.”

Last weekend, the Falcons swept Canisius at home, 4-1 and 3-1 — good nonconference wins for a team looking for confidence. The Friday win broke a five-game losing streak, all of which were CCHA games. BGSU has one league win this season, 1-0 over Lake Superior State on Oct. 21, and hence the three league points and last place.

“That’s where we want to make our biggest improvement is in the league,” said Bergeron. “The 1-0 win at Lake Superior was really a step forward. Then we came out and laid an egg the next night.

“We’re all frustrated. We all think we’re a better team, but we need to start going and getting better results. Our process is pretty good, but the results don’t show it yet.”

The hardest part, said Bergeron, is keeping the belief alive in Bowling Green. It’s been so long since the Falcons have experienced sustained success that they don’t yet quite believe that they can achieve it. Because of that, said Bergeron, helping the players see that all of their hard work is progress — even without wins — is a big part of the challenge.

“That is exactly the issue,” said Bergeron, “making sure that we all believe that this is going to work. The plan is moving forward — whether we get wins or losses, the plan is moving forward. I’ve said from the beginning that it’s not a matter of if this is going to happen, but when.”

The Falcons were picked to finish last in both preseason CCHA polls based on their three wins and last-place finish in 2010-11. As realistic as Bergeron is about where the program is at this moment in time, he does see improvement from a year ago.

“I honestly think we’re a bigger team, physically,” Bergeron said, adding that better conditioning was a big goal for this season. “I didn’t think we were big enough to compete in our league [last season]. We got pushed around too much.”

Bergeron said, too, that he does see changes in expectations among his players, but that it’s “not different enough.” He remains frustrated by what he calls “poor decisions at poor times.”

“I do think that guys are expecting better things to happen,” said Bergeron, “but we’re still waiting for something bad to happen sometimes versus making something good happen.

“I wish our guys could get more positive feedback based on how hard they work,” said Bergeron. True to character, though, he added, “Now, the results are what they are and you get what you deserve.”

The Falcons will bring a young team to Oxford this weekend with as many as 16 freshman and sophomores skating. “We just don’t want our guys to be overwhelmed by that stage,” said Bergeron. “I hope our guys can just go and play and not get caught up in the stage.”

Two of Bowling Green’s three regular-season wins in 2010-11 came before the holiday break. After Miami, the Falcons face Alaska, Michigan State and Western Michigan to round out their first half.

Speaking of Alaska …

The Nanooks — which rhymes with “books,” not “kooks,” for any of you on-air types who may glance at these humble pages — are still looking for their first league win of the season. Their two losses to Notre Dame last weekend mark the first time they’ve dropped four in a row under fourth-year coach Dallas Ferguson. Their 0-6-2 start is their longest winless streak to begin a CCHA season, ever.

Speaking of Michigan State …

Who are these Spartans? MSU has swept back-to-back opponents and won five of its last six. Most impressive is that the Spartans took two from Western Michigan in Kalamazoo last weekend to follow their home sweep of Robert Morris two weeks before. It was the first time MSU registered consecutive sweeps since December 2007.

Players of the week

Hey, look at that! A couple of MSU players are honored this week, right on cue — and deservedly.

Rookie of the week: Miami’s Austin Czarnik — a forward from Washington, Mich., with a killer hockey name — had a goal and two assists in Miami’s 3-3 tie with Michigan last Saturday. It’s the second week in a row that a RedHawks player has been named ROTW. Get ready, CCHA.

Offensive player of the week: Notre Dame’s T.J. Tynan — the forward from Orland Park, Ill., whose name has a distinctly legalese sound — makes his debut in this season’s POTW honors with his goal and four assists in ND’s sweep of Alaska.

Defenseman of the week: Michigan State’s Brock Shelgren — the defenseman from Chicago whose name sounds like a hero from a 1970s television detective series — was instrumental in MSU’s sweep of Western Michigan with a career-high seven blocked shots Friday and another on Saturday plus two assists Saturday night.

Goaltender of the week: MSU’s Will Yanakeff — the goalie from Jerome, Mich., who also has a great hockey name — was the goalie of record in that sweep of WMU, with 66 saves and a .943 save percentage in the series.

My ballot

I find it amazing that people debate my votes. It’s a poll. We all know what determines the field at the end of the season.

1. Minnesota
2. Boston College
3. Michigan
4. Ferris State
5. Colorado College
6. Merrimack
7. Notre Dame
8. Minnesota-Duluth
9. Western Michigan
10. Lake Superior State
11. Denver
12. Boston University
13. Michigan Tech
14. Ohio State
15. Yale
16. Nebraska-Omaha
17. Quinnipiac
18. Union
19. Cornell
20. Massachusetts-Lowell

You know how to find me

I find that an oddly discomforting thought, sometimes. Follow on Twitter (@paulacweston), email me ([email protected]) or post in the forum below. Remember that niceness counts, and at this time of year, I’m not the only one keeping that score.

Nov. 15 USCHO Live! guests are Lowell’s Bazin, NCAA’s Fasbender

By USCHO Podcasts

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November 15, 2011

The Tuesday, Nov. 15, episode of USCHO Live! features Massachusetts-Lowell first-year head coach Norm Bazin and NCAA associate director of championships Kristin Fasbender.

Bazin’s rejuvenated River Hawks are fresh off a road sweep of Maine, are 3-2-0 in Hockey East and stand at 5-3-0 overall, already matching last year’s win total.

Fasbender will update us on planning for the 2012 Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla., as well as giving us an inside look at what goes on behind the scenes to prepare and execute a major NCAA championship.

Join us for the conversation and information, Tuesday, Nov. 15, from 8 to 9 p.m. ET. If you can’t listen live, check out the podcast of USCHO Live! available on the player at the right (click through if you’re reading this via RSS.)

Each episode of USCHO Live! features a look at news around NCAA hockey, a look ahead at upcoming games and events, and conversation with people who coach and play college hockey and journalists who cover the sport. Your calls are welcome at (646) 200-4305, as well as questions via Twitter at @USCHO or via email to [email protected].

About the hosts

Jim Connelly is a senior writer at USCHO.com and has been with the site since 1999. He is based in Boston and regularly covers Hockey East. He began with USCHO.com as the correspondent covering the MAAC, which nowadays is known as Atlantic Hockey. Each week during the season, he co-writes “Tuesday Morning Quarterback.”

Ed Trefzger has been part of USCHO since 1999 and now serves as a senior writer and director of technology. He has been a part of the radio broadcasts of Rochester Institute of Technology hockey since their inception — serving as a producer, studio host, color commentator and now as RIT’s play-by-play voice for the last several seasons. Ed is based in Rochester, N.Y.

Paula's picks plus, Nov. 15, 2011: Notre Dame at Western Michigan, alleged larceny, and the future of college hockey

By Paula C. Weston

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November 15, 2011

Okay, so the headline is a little dramatic. How else was I going to get you to read a Tuesday blog entry? There’s a pick at the end for the Western Michigan-Notre Dame game. I’m bound to be wrong. I have a couple of other things on my mind, too.

Football, hockey and the future

Last week was one the sporting world would rather never repeat. As news of the Penn State scandal broke and then unfolded, I was as shocked as the rest of the world at the allegations, heart broken for the victims and their families and disgusted by the cover-up.
Being someone who cares just a little about college hockey too, though, I wondered how this would affect the future of men’s and women’s hockey at PSU. Check out Todd Milewski’s note about it from Thursday. The statement issued by the Pegula family is both realistic and reassuring.
We don’t like to think about the relationship between football and hockey, but for many programs, the latter is dependent upon the former. Sure, we’re lucky to have some programs that are the centerpiece of their schools’ little universes, but football and its revenue still drives collegiate sports across the country. At the start of the season, I had an interesting chat with Jeff Jackson — and Notre Dame’s head coach is so much smarter than I am — in which he made an offhand comment about the malleability of the college hockey conferences. We were talking hockey, but Jackson quickly pointed out that what happens with the changing conference loyalties among big football programs can affect the sport we love the most. It was the week that Syracuse University jumped from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference, a big gamble that may not work out for SU.
And if that gamble doesn’t work out for SU — by “work out” I mean, “bring in big, giant, huge revenue” — there’s one more realistically potential Division I men’s ice hockey program that sits and waits.
Anyone who’s read me over any period of time knows that I’m no fan of big, corporate, collegiate sports, but let’s be real: If college hockey is to expand, it will do so at first with schools that have big football programs, schools that can more readily absorb the expense of starting a hockey program. Fairy godfathers — the single donors that make things like PSU hockey possible — are in short supply.

A little larceny, allegedly

Another incident much closer to the CCHA home may have gone unnoticed in the shadow of the big breaking news, but I find the smaller scandal in Marquette quite saddening. Five freshmen are facing midemeanor charges involving stolen bicycles on the Northern Michigan campus, including three who see regular ice time for the Wildcats.
In fact, those three — Jake Baker, Mitch Jones, Dylan Walchuk — played in NMU’s series against Ohio State last weekend. Walchuk had a goal.
It’ll be very interesting to see how the NMU student disciplinary process deals with all five, and how the athletic department will respond.

Western Michigan at Notre Dame

Why do we call every Tuesday and Thursday game a mid-week game, ignoring the reality of Wednesday as the actual mid-week point? These are the kinds of things that keep me awake at night.
The Broncos are hoping to break a three-game skid at home after having dropped two games to Michigan State in Lawson Arena Friday and Saturday. This little losing streak stings more than most, as these three games — dating back to the 5-2 loss in Yost Ice Arena the Saturday prior, Nov. 5 — are the Broncos’ only losses of the season. The sweep by MSU was the first that WMU has suffered at home since Jan. 2009 — and that stings, too. The Fighting Irish beat Alaska twice at home last weekend, with Billy Maday’s fourth goal of the season cementing the sweep at 4:18 in overtime Saturday. The Irish have a streak of their own, seven unbeaten (5-0-2). ND was 2-1-1 (and 1, if you count the shootout point) against WMU last season. 7:05 p.m. start. If this one were played in Lawson, I’d call it the other way. I may still be wrong. ND 3-2
This week’s column will feature the RedHawks and the Falcons, so look for that tomorrow. I’ll have picks on Friday along with an update on how I’m doing so far in that regard this season. (Hint: My record is lousy.) I’ll also be at Yost Ice Arena this Friday night. Now you know more about my life than my mother does.

Just like his goaltending mentor, Minnesota’s Patterson knows shutouts

By Brian Halverson

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November 15, 2011

Kent Patterson was not always a goaltender and, like many others like him, did not necessarily choose the position. In the end, goaltending chose Patterson.

“I was initially a defenseman in mites but the goalie bag got passed around a lot and I was always the one to pick it up,” Patterson said. “I think the one thing that got me hooked is that I got a shutout my first game I played as goalie.”

But the Minnesota star netminder waited three full seasons before recording his first collegiate shutout and is now seemingly hooked on blanking NCAA opponents. Patterson posted back-to-back shutouts in Minnesota’s season-opening series against Sacred Heart and registered three more by the season’s ninth game, a 2-0 win over North Dakota at Mariucci Arena.

“He gives us a chance to win every single night,” said Minnesota captain Taylor Matson. “He’s just always in position and aggressive and that’s the thing that makes him really good.”

Minnesota coach Don Lucia said Patterson’s strong start should not come as a surprise.

“Let’s not forget that he was a second-team all-WCHA goalie last year,” Lucia said. “His play helped us become a better team the second half of last year and he’s [picked up] where he left off.”

With his five shutouts, Patterson has already tied Minnesota’s record for shutouts in a season, set by Robb Stauber in 1987-88. Stauber, coincidentally, also performed his feat in a nine-game stretch and went on to capture the Hobey Baker Award as a sophomore.

Stauber said there is no disappointment whatsoever in either sharing the record or potentially losing it to Patterson.

“My years at the university were fantastic; I loved every minute of it,” Stauber said. “You do what you can do when you’re there, and to see a guy like him even have a chance at something like that is … you couldn’t pick a better kid.

“If he doesn’t focus on it, which I don’t think he does, if he just stays in the moment, that won’t be his last shutout of the year.”

It is Stauber whom Patterson credits most with his development as a goaltender, having spent countless hours honing his skills at Stauber’s camps and Goalcrease Training Center from an early age.

“From the time he was a kid — he was 8 or 9 when he first started coming to my camps — you could just see that that kid was going to be really, really good,” Stauber said. “He had great intensity, great focus and, in goaltending, you’ve got to have such a strong fundamental skill set and he does.”

Patterson, a senior, has played all 12 of No. 1 Minnesota’s games this season, going 10-2 with a 1.66 goals against average and a .935 save percentage to rank among the nation’s leaders in each category.

When asked if a year ago he could have envisioned the run he has been on this season, Patterson said he never looked this far ahead.

“Last year when I was given the opportunity I was just taking advantage of the opportunity at hand,” Patterson said. “Just making sure I was coming prepared to each and every practice and continue to earn that spot that I had at that moment.”

Patterson spent his first two seasons positioned behind Alex Kangas, who is third in school history with 2,802 career saves, behind Adam Hauser (3,777) and Kellen Briggs (2,968). With Kangas entrenched as the starter, Patterson played in only 15 games as a freshman and sophomore, starting just seven of those.

“Part of it was the way [Kangas] played [Patterson’s] freshman year,” said Lucia. “You have that in the back of your mind and Alex had a really good junior year, too, so there just wasn’t a lot of ice time for [Patterson].”

Stauber said while the frustration of sitting would have been too much for many goaltenders, Patterson’s approach and respect for the program is what sets him apart and contributes to his success today.

“He just kept his nose to the grindstone,” said Stauber. “Ultimately, all you can do as a goalie is control what you can do. You can’t get too far ahead of yourself. You can’t look too far back because either one of those scenarios is not going to be very good.”

But after Kangas suffered a labral tear in his left hip in a Dec. 11, 2010, practice, ending the senior’s college career, Patterson assumed the full-time starter’s role.

“[Kent] started to take it over even before the injury and had kind of taken the mantle away [from Kangas] that he deserved to be the No. 1 guy,” Lucia said, referencing that Patterson started 10 of Minnesota’s 17 games before Kangas’ injury. “Once the injury took place then he was going to play every game thereafter.”

A fourth-round pick (113th overall) by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Patterson acknowledges an NHL career has long been the ultimate goal for him. A Business and Marketing Education major, Patterson hopes for a career in hockey even if his NHL aspirations don’t pan out.

“It would be great to play in the NHL someday, just to be recognized at that level, but I know it’s going to be a long road,” Patterson said. “Hopefully I’ll be working in sports. I like the marketing side a bit more and so hopefully something with marketing and some hockey team.”

Stauber believes Patterson has the size, skills and demeanor to play at the next level and his advice to his protégé before the season was simply, “Have a great season.”

“If you stop the puck better than anyone, people are going to want you,” Stauber said. “So you don’t have to worry about where you’re going to land, how’s this thing going to shape up, or what is my future at the next level?

“You stop the puck now where you’re at and people will figure out you’re good.”

TMQ: A split in the votes for Merrimack; Lowell’s rise; Northern Michigan’s fall

By Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski

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November 15, 2011

Jim: Well, Todd, this was an interesting week for the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll. Each of the top five teams from last week’s poll lost, which should have cleared the way for Merrimack, still without a loss, to move from sixth to first. The voters, though, didn’t see it that way. Merrimack did get the most first-place votes, but Minnesota maintained the top spot by capturing the most points in the poll.

That usually means that, while most voters felt Merrimack should be No. 1, those who did not didn’t believe they should be No. 2, or maybe even No. 3. Could that be because Merrimack still hasn’t played a team with an RPI above .500? Looking at their schedule, there’s a chance the Warriors won’t face a team like that until the new year.

Todd: I thought Merrimack was undervalued at sixth last week, and I thought they should have been first this week, but I think the schedule and the lack of what you could call a needle-moving victory got in the way for some voters. The Warriors did get a good victory over a ranked Boston University in overtime last Friday, but I’m not sure we know yet what kind of team BU is going to be in the end.

I don’t know that you can completely discount Merrimack’s schedule, though. By the Ratings Percentage Index, they’ve played the ninth-toughest schedule in the country, ahead of Minnesota’s 14th-toughest. I honestly think we’re seeing that Merrimack is still a little bit of an unknown quantity to some, and that makes it tough to crack the top levels.

Jim: I especially could see that true for Western voters. I think in the East, most people recognize how good the Warriors are. In the last two games they’ve had to rally for victories, earning each in overtime, but that’s the sign of a good team: resiliency.

I do agree that Merrimack was undervalued at No. 6 last week, but also think that a jump from sixth to first is a major one. I don’t think Merrimack should be too disappointed, either, being No. 2. It’s likely that avoiding any sort of bumps in the road will eventually get them to No. 1. This really reminds me of Air Force a few years back when the Falcons went well past midway in the season undefeated before finally losing to Denver. And that loss kept the Falcons from becoming No. 1.

Todd: That’s exactly who I was thinking of in the unknown quantity realm. And I think it took a while for people to warm to Yale as a No. 1 team last season. This, to me, is the beauty and the shame of polls all wrapped into one. You get an honest picture of how those around college hockey see it, but sometimes it shows that there are preconceived notions that cloud reality. Maybe the Minnesota brand carries more weight than the Merrimack brand, and that was enough for some voters.

Jim: Amen.

Of course, Merrimack wasn’t the only Hockey East team making noise last weekend. Massachusetts-Lowell, fresh off its 7-1 victory over BU, completed its first road sweep of Maine since 1985 (the inaugural year of Hockey East). A year ago Lowell’s offense was near the bottom of the nation, registering just 2.44 goals per game. Over the past two weekends, Lowell is scoring at a better than five goals per game clip and right now the River Hawks’ 3.88 goals per game average is fifth best in the nation. That’s quite a turnaround.

Todd: Here’s another interesting stat on the River Hawks: A season after being outscored 43-30 in the third period, they are outscoring teams 13-5 in the final period. It’s not a difficult conclusion to draw that Lowell is playing more of a complete game than it did last season. I’m sure that’s one of many differences that the River Hawks like to see this season.

Jim: Out West, last weekend, of course the big upset was No. 1 Minnesota losing to Wisconsin. While you know the Gophers would have liked to sweep in order to keep the top ranking, it didn’t impact them in the end. The team that might have felt the impact, though, was Wisconsin, which many have left for dead a number of times already this season. It ended up a split for Bucky, but the win Friday had to be reaffirming for the Badgers, no?

Todd: I think so. A little bit of the formula with a young team is to keep your head above water until things start to jell and then to hope a solid finish is good enough to get you into the tournament. I don’t know that the Badgers are quite there yet, but they’re not falling out of the picture, either. One thing to keep an eye on with Wisconsin: shots on goal. The Badgers are getting outshot by an average of more than 10 shots per game in WCHA play, and that kind of disparity can wear a team down.

Jim: It wears a team — and its goaltenders — down. Speaking of which, one team that started hot this season but seems to have worn down is Northern Michigan. The Wildcats were 4-1 to start the season and seemed on the right track after knocking off No. 1 Michigan. Since that win, NMU is 0-4-3 and was handily swept by Ohio State last weekend. I’m not one to mind admitting when I’m wrong, and I’m guessing we maybe overhyped this team a few weeks back?

Todd: Maybe we got swept up in Upper Peninsula fever with the starts by the Wildcats, Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State. In Northern Michigan’s case, look at the recent schedule — Michigan, at Western Michigan, Notre Dame, at Ohio State. That’s the kind of stretch that shows you what you’re made of, and the Wildcats can’t be too thrilled with what they found.

Jim: Still a wait and see, but Lake Superior could be headed down that road as well, taking just two of six points from Ferris State last weekend. It will get a break this weekend with a non-league series against Canisius but will have to face Notre Dame once it returns to league play, so that will certainly be the next litmus test.

Looking ahead to this week, the most notable game from the East has Boston College traveling to South Bend, Ind., not just to face a rival but to face a future league mate. Notre Dame will be dedicating its new arena this weekend so it should be a pretty special event for all involved. How about out West? What should we be looking for?

Todd: Just into the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, No. 14 Ohio State gets put to the test at No. 7 Michigan. And after snapping a four-game winless skid with a victory over rival Colorado College last Saturday, No. 11 Denver hosts No. 19 Nebraska-Omaha.

Weekend Rewind: Early returns on conference races

By Derek Dunning

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November 14, 2011

This past weekend didn’t really feature any marquee matchups across the country. There were no top 10 matchups and every single one of the top 10 teams in the latest USCHO.com Poll rolled to victories.

Since it was a rather predictable weekend, let’s take a look at the early returns on conference races.

ECAC East: Defending national champion Norwich is off to a blistering start in conference play as the Cadets are 4-0-0 and have outscored their opponents 36-1 in legaue games so far this year. Manhattanville is the odds on favorite to be Norwich’s chief competitor for the ECAC East title and the Valiants have already fallen a game behind as they dropped a game to Saint Anselm two weeks ago. Saint Anselm will take a crack at Norwich on Saturday in the Cadets’ toughest ECAC East test to date on Saturday afternoon.

ECAC West: Once again the race figures to come down to Elmira, RIT, and Plattsburgh this year. Elmira took a one-year hiatus from the powerhouse trio but the Soaring Eagles look to have rebounded early this season and should be right back in the thick of things with Plattsburgh and RIT. The one shocking result so far in the ECAC West was Neumann tying Plattsburgh two weeks ago. Neumann led 5-1 but a ferocious third period comeback helped Plattsburgh salvage a point. That tie could come back to haunt Plattsburgh in the long run if Elmira and RIT both sweep the Knights. Plattsburgh is the de-facto leader currently since they’ve played five leagues games and are 4-0-1. RIT has swept Potsdam and Utica so far while Elmira is coming off two convincing wins against Cortland this past weekend in its only two league games to date.

MIAC: The question coming into every season when it comes to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is who can finally be the one to dethrone Gustavus Adolphus? The bad news for the conference so far is the Gusties haven’t shown any signs of slowing down so far this season having outscored their opponents 26-6 in four games. Coach Carroll’s squad once again looks to be the class of the league and the legendary coach currently sits just 23 wins shy of 300 wins in his career. GAC will face its old nemeis St. Thomas this weekend in a home and home series. The Tommies and Gusties split their regular season matchup last season and if one team can be a thorn in Gustavus’ side this year, UST is most likely the team to do it.

NCHA: The most interesting conference top to bottom almost every year turns out to the NCHA. This year shouldn’t be too much different. Wis.-River Falls has once again asserted itself early as the team to beat with a perfect 4-0-0 record and sweeps over Adrian and St. Scholastica. The Falcons are still stacked once again this season and they’ll be looking to avenge last season’s disappointing end after running the gauntlett in the regular season undefeated and then losing in the NCHA finals to Adrian and the NCAA Tournament First Round to Gustavus Adolphus. After UWRF, I expect things to be extremely tight all season from second to ninth place. At this point its a crap shoot to try and predict who will emerge. Wis.-Stevens Point is 3-0-1 so far but they’ll get UWRF this weekend in the toughest two games they’ll face all season. My sleeper in this league this year is St. Scholastica. The Saints are coming off two losses to UWRF but a 5-2 and 6-2 loss with the shot counts relatively close is nothing to hang your head about. CSS has four straight games against the the two teams at the bottom of the conference to get back to their winning ways and establish a foothold in the top four of the NCHA.

This weekend the NESCAC teams finally hit the ice for their first games of 2011-12 which will finally give us all 49 D-III teams in action.

Next week I’ll be getting back to the Player, Rookie, and Goalie of the Week selections I used in this blog last season. I’ll also be getting back to my weekly predictions in Friday.

Norwich takes over as top team in D-III men’s poll

By Matt Mackinder

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November 14, 2011

With 15 of 20 first-place votes, Norwich is the new No. 1-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division III Men’s Poll this week.

Last week’s top team, Oswego, slides to No. 2. Oswego received five first-place votes.

Castleton jumps three spots to No. 3, Adrian holds steady at No. 4 and Wisconsin-River Falls rises seven spots to the fifth spot.

Plattsburgh drops to No. 6, Utica retains the No. 7 spot and St. Norbert falls from No. 3 to No. 8.

The Milwaukee School of Engineering is up two to No. 9 and Bowdoin falls to No. 10 from the eighth spot a week ago.

Elmira, Neumann, Wisconsin-Superior, Wisconsin-Eau Claire and previously unranked New England College round out spots 11-15.

RIT still No. 1 in women’s D-III poll

USCHO Staff Report

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November 14, 2011

RIT garnered 14 first-place votes and maintains the top spot in the USCHO.com Division III Women’s Poll.

The rest of the poll, with the exception of the No. 10 spot, mirrors last week’s rankings.

Norwich is No. 2, Middlebury No. 3, Plattsburgh No. 4 and Wisconsin-River Falls, with the other first-place vote, comes in at No. 5.

Gustavus Adolphus sits sixth, Amherst is seventh, Elmira is No. 8 and Trinity is ninth.

Adrian, unranked last week, is No. 10 this week.

Check the tweets

Joy back in Troy again

Mr. Movember

RedHawks rising

Bigger and better, but not there yet

Speaking of Alaska …

Speaking of Michigan State …

Players of the week

My ballot

You know how to find me

About the hosts

Football, hockey and the future

A little larceny, allegedly

Western Michigan at Notre Dame

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