{"id":38915,"date":"2011-10-20T05:00:03","date_gmt":"2011-10-20T10:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=38915"},"modified":"2011-10-19T22:15:49","modified_gmt":"2011-10-20T03:15:49","slug":"early-numbers-promising-for-michigan-tech-alaska-anchorage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2011\/10\/20\/early-numbers-promising-for-michigan-tech-alaska-anchorage\/","title":{"rendered":"Early numbers promising for Michigan Tech, Alaska-Anchorage"},"content":{"rendered":"
Early season statistics and standings, while providing no particular long-term value, can be fun to peruse nonetheless if only for the “what if?” factor they present. <\/p>\n
Will Minnesota maintain its pace of 6.25 goals per game? Is Michigan Tech’s rise from the bottom of last season’s scoring defense (4.45 goals per game) to the top (1.75) sustainable? Do the .820 saves percentage and 4.43 goals against average of Minnesota-Duluth’s goaltending tandem of Kenny Reiter and Aaron Crandall indicate certain doom for the Bulldogs? Can Minnesota State hope to solve its scoring woes while serving a whopping 21.5 penalty minutes per game and going 0-for-17 on the power play?<\/p>\n
Of course the answer to each of those questions is no, but they are just a few of the numbers orbiting the WCHA stat-o-sphere that stand out in the infancy of the 2011-12 season. <\/p>\n
October can also often be a time for fans of programs perennially found at or near the bottom of the conference to get a taste of seeing their favorite teams in unusual positions in the standings. This year is no exception with Michigan Tech (4-0-0) and Alaska-Anchorage (3-0-1) joining the ranks of the undefeated in the early going, joining Minnesota (4-0-0) and Colorado College (2-0-0).<\/p>\n
How did they get there?<\/p>\n
Home sweeps of American International and Wisconsin have given Michigan Tech its first 4-0 start since 1974-75, when the Huskies last won the national title. Furthermore, Mel Pearson’s Huskies are riding their first four-game winning streak since a stretch from Oct. 14-26, 2007, spanning three series. That included wins over Lake Superior State and North Dakota sandwiching a sweep of Minnesota State. <\/p>\n
Pearson told The Daily Mining Gazette<\/i>‘s Stephen Anderson he wasn’t surprised to win both Wisconsin games but went on to caution his team against dwelling on short-term successes.<\/a><\/p>\n “I told people I expected to win two games this weekend — I really did,” Pearson said. “Our kids are working hard, there’s a lot of good things going on in our locker room and we see it every day as coaches. It doesn’t always go your way, and we were a couple bounces or a shot away from losing, but you know what, we won two games.<\/p>\n “We have to understand it’s not one weekend, one game, one month,” Pearson added. “To earn home ice and be a good team, you have to do it on a consistent basis, night in and night out. We have to now go out on the road and prove we can win on the road.”<\/p>\n Michigan Tech gets its chance to do just that when it travels to Bemidji this weekend to battle the Beavers at the Sanford Center.<\/p>\n Alaska-Anchorage won both Alaska preseason tournaments — its own Kendall Hockey Classic and the Brice Alaska Gold Rush in Fairbanks — for the first time in the four years since the BAGR debuted in 2008. In non-conference wins over St. Cloud State, Nebraska-Omaha and Mercyhurst and a tie with Clarkson, the Seawolves are averaging 38 shots on goal per game but are allowing just 23.5.<\/p>\n The Seawolves’ 3-0-1 record matches Alaska-Anchorage’s best start (2007-08) since Dave Shyiak took over the coaching reins at UAA in 2005.<\/p>\n It’s way too early to tell where these teams are headed with any certainty but their progress is definitely worth a closer look in the coming weeks and, quite possibly, beyond.<\/p>\n Junior center Rylan Schwartz scored three times to lead Colorado College to a 6-4 win over Bemidji State on Saturday night to complete the Tigers’ sweep of the visiting Beavers. While the hat trick may have been the first of Schwartz’s college career, the method by which he tallied the first goal may never be duplicated.<\/p>\n “It bounced off my chin and then shoulder and in,” Schwartz told Joe Paisley of the Colorado Springs Gazette<\/i><\/a>, adding that it didn’t hurt “after I saw it go in.”<\/p>\n “When he plays like that we’re a better team,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said of Schwartz’s positioning on the play. “It’s funny how good things happen when you go to the net. That got him going, and then he scored two big-time goals.”<\/p>\nTournament tested<\/h4>\n
A little chin music<\/h4>\n
College puck fans ‘Like’ this<\/h4>\n