Archive for November, 2012

WCHA Power Rankings: 11/14/12

Wednesday, November 14th, 2012

What we have here is a conference split in half. Denver maintains a strong grip on the top spot, but the next five are all very close. Then there’s a big drop-off to the bottom six, where everyone is searching for wins in hopes of breaking into that top tier.

1. Denver (7-1-0, 5-1-0 WCHA) — Last week: 1
The Pioneers were certainly challenged by Minnesota State, but they still managed to come away with a sweep, winning 4-3 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. Daniel Doremus and Chris Knowlton each had two goals on the weekend, with Doremus scoring Friday’s game-winner and Knowlton scoring Saturday’s. Denver went 0-for-12 on the power play in the series, but it’s still at a healthy 20 percent on the season.

2. Minnesota (6-2-1, 3-2-1 WCHA) — Last week: 2
The Gophers took three of four points at Alaska-Anchorage, winning 4-0 on Friday before tying 2-2 on Saturday. That’s enough to hang onto the second spot for another week, but the four teams behind them are certainly knocking on the door. Erik Haula had three points in the series, while Kyle Rau, Travis Boyd and Nate Schmidt all had two. Minnesota went 5-for-11 on the power play and is now at 28.6 percent on the season. (more…)

Hockey East Power Rankings: 11/14/12

Wednesday, November 14th, 2012

A lot can and will change over the next few months, but it’s starting to look like Hockey East features a clear top three, and then a bunch of question marks. Lowell was in that top tier before the season, but didn’t hang around too long. Northeastern, Providence and Merrimack have all fumbled away chances to join the club. Now it looks like UMass might be the closest, but the Minutemen still have some work to do — getting over .500, for one.

1. Boston College (8-1-0, 7-1-0 HE) — Last week: 1
The Eagles extended their winning streak to eight by beating Notre Dame 3-1 on Friday and BU 4-2 on Sunday. Johnny Gaudreau scored three goals on the weekend and now has a 12-game point streak dating back to last season. Pat Mullane, Bill Arnold, Kevin Hayes and Patrick Wey all had two-point weekends. BC has now allowed just 10 goals in its last seven games. The only negative this weekend was that the power play, which came in at 40 percent, went 0-for-12.

2. New Hampshire (6-1-1, 4-1-1 HE) — Last week: 2
The Wildcats beat Vermont 4-0 on Saturday in their only game of the weekend, marking their second straight win by that score. Casey DeSmith stopped all 27 shots he faced to earn his third shutout in the last four games. He now leads Hockey East with a .953 save percentage and 1.36 goals against average. Austin Block scored twice on Saturday, and Kevin Goumas had three assists. Block is tied for the league lead in goals, while Goumas is first in assists. (more…)

Three Things I Think, Nov. 13: Hockey East

Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

To an extent, the Hockey East season has produced its share of surprises thus far. Boston College’s race to the top of the league may not qualify exactly, but it’s still a little interesting that BC has been this good in the season’s first two months. In its three recent national championship seasons, BC posted a combined .526 winning percentage in October and November. Compared to its current 8-1-0 record, these seasons didn’t see the same hot starts. The Eagles were as talented as ever in these seasons, but certain parts of Jerry York’s machine took a little longer to start clicking.

In 2007-08, BC began the year with 4-4-5 record. The next title run saw BC begin the year with a 6-3-2 record, while last year looked a bit more like this one with the Eagles racing to a 10-4-0 start. York preaches simple philosophies designed to get his club peaking at the right time of year. Last season, that process began in late January and continued through early April. With eight consecutive wins after a season-opening loss to Northeastern, BC has steadily improved with every game this year. This early-season success suggests another year of consistent improvement may very well make the 2012-13 Eagles a team college hockey will never forget.

It’s a goaltenders’ world

(more…)

Three Up, Three Down, WCHA: Nov. 13

Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

Up

Rylan Schwartz, Forward, Colorado College

After beginning the season with just five points through eight games, Schwartz officially broke loose against Bemidji State last weekend, notching five points (two goals, three assists) while helping the Tigers to a big WCHA sweep over the Beavers. That’s the Rylan Schwartz we expected to see, and it’s probably safe to say that he’s not finished putting up crooked numbers on a week-by-week basis.

Tony Cameranesi, Forward, Minnesota Duluth

For a team struggling to find consistent scoring, Cameranesi has been a welcomed addition to the Bulldogs. In his first eight collegiate outings, Cameranesi is second on the team in points with seven, including four in a series at Omaha last weekend. He’s probably UMD’s best center at this point, too, and he’s getting top-six ice time in all situations because of it.

Ryan Walters, Forward, Nebraska-Omaha

The Mavericks have won four in a row after starting the season with spotty play, and a big reason why has been the play of Walters. After opening with just three points in seven games, he’s gone off in his last three outings, posting eight points during that span. Last weekend against UMD, he had a pair of goals and three assists to spark the Mavs to a big series sweep.

DOWN

Zach Palmquist, Defenseman, Minnesota State

Last week’s WCHA Defensive Player of the Week wasn’t quite as good this weekend, to say the least. While his Minnesota State team was being swept in Denver, Palmquist recorded no shots, was a minus-3 and was on the rink for five of the Pioneers’ seven goals on the weekend.

Jordan George, Forward, Bemidji State

Coming off a season where he tallied almost 20 goals – he fell just a single goal shy – George has only a single goal so far this season. He’s supplemented that tally with just three assists, which is part of the reason why the Beavers average only 2.7 goals a game.

Nick Bjugstad, Forward, Minnesota

Sure, Bjugstad’s five goals in nine games is a good amount, but it’s not exactly what was expected out of Bjugstad. He’s only recorded a pair of assists and one multi-point game so far, which is way down from his production at this point last season, when he had 13 points and five multi-point games in the same span. For the Gophers to get the consistency in non-power play situations, Bjugstad has to be the Bjugstad we all expected him to be.

Three Things I Think, November 12: WCHA

Monday, November 12th, 2012

This past weekend went well for a pair of WCHA teams who completed back-to-back sweeps at home. Out in Colorado Springs, Colorado College took down Bemidji State to remain undefeated in WCHA play. Meanwhile in Omaha, last week’s CHN team of the Week, the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks continued their hot streak by sweeping Minnesota Duluth in a Saturday-Sunday series.

There were a lot of similarities between how the Tigers and Nebraska-Omaha got things done. They each defeated teams from the state of Minnesota (the great state that it is) and even had matching 3-2 and 6-3 scores.

With a number of teams in WCHA looking uneven and parity splitting the conference into two tiers – there seems to be an even cutoff between the top and bottom six – getting off to a good start is that much more important for two teams picked to finish in the middle of the pack. That’s been the case so far; currently the Mavericks and Colorado College are second and third, respectively. It’s a testament to both teams finding their way despite losses and for all of this, they should be happy with their early November performance.

After the break, Denver begins to separate from the pack, Minnesota-Duluth is in the WCHA cellar and I make a not-so-bold prediction about North Dakota (more…)

The Takeaway: BC Beats BU, Extends Winning Streak to Eight

Sunday, November 11th, 2012

BOSTON — Boston College came away victorious in the first edition of this year’s B-Line Rivalry, beating Boston University 4-2 at Agganis Arena on Sunday. With the win, the Eagles extended their winning streak to eight and completed a weekend sweep of two of their biggest rivals, as they also beat Notre Dame on Friday.

BC (8-1-0, 7-1-0 Hockey East) opened the scoring just 43 seconds in when Kevin Hayes carried the puck behind BU’s net behind before finding Destry Straight at the top of the crease for an easy tap-in. The score stayed that way for the next 50 minutes before Hayes and Johnny Gaudreau scored 1:22 apart midway through the third to make it 3-0.

Matt Grzelcyk gave BU (5-3-0, 4-2-0 HE) a glimmer of hope when he scored with 4:40 remaining, but then Bill Arnold sealed the BC win with an empty-netter. BU’s Alexx Privitera capped the scoring with 1:17 to go. Despite not seeing a ton of shots, both Parker Milner (25 saves) and Matt O’Connor (20) made a number of big stops when their teams needed them to. (more…)

Carsen Chubak and the Atlantic Hockey Weekend That Was

Sunday, November 11th, 2012

Coming into the season, Dave Burkholder and Niagara had no clue who was going to be the No.1 goalie. Well, there is no doubt who’s No. 1 now. Carsen Chubak continued his torrid run this week, posting his third straight shutout on Friday before finally letting in a goal with 5:30 left in the third period Saturday. Chubak played 247:59 between goals. Throw in the shutout of Clarkson on Oct. 26 and Chubak has played 307:59, surrendering just two goals. He has clearly cemented himself as the No.1 in net for the Purple Eagles. He leads the nation in both save percentage (.966) and goals against (1.09). With Chubak in net, the Purple Eagles are a perfect 5-0 in conference play and are the only team not to lose an Atlantic Hockey game this year. (more…)

The Takeaway: Maine Beats Lowell, Ends Losing Streak

Sunday, November 11th, 2012

LOWELL, Mass. — Maine hung onto a 4-3 win over Massachusetts-Lowell on Saturday, bringing an end to a miserable seven-game losing streak. Kyle Williams, a freshman defenseman-turned-forward, scored the winning goal with 8:50 left in the game when he tipped home a Mike Cornell shot from the point.

Lowell (2-4-1, 1-3-1 Hockey East) opened the scoring 10:09 into the game when Derek Arnold redirected a Joseph Pendenza pass. Maine (2-9-0, 1-5-0 HE) scored the next three, though, as Connor Leen, Adam Shemansky and Devin Shore all found the back of the net. The River Hawks came storming back late in the second and got goals from Riley Wetmore and Pendenza to tie the game heading into the third. (more…)

The Takeaway: UNH Dominates Vermont, Wins 4-0

Saturday, November 10th, 2012

Durham, NH- UNH raced out to a 2-0 first period lead on Vermont, on a shorthanded tally by Grayson Downing at five minutes, 27 seconds and a power-play goal by Eric Knodel at 12:07. Austin Block had his second consecutive two goal game for UNH as he scored a goal in each of the last two periods. UNH overmatched the Catamounts to take home the win 4-0, in a game that didn’t even feel that close.

Casey Desmith earned his second shutout in a row. Desmith made 27 saves on the night, while his counter-part Brody Hoffman made 25 saves on 29 shots. Hoffman had the more difficult night and kept UVM in the game for much of the first two periods. UNH improves to 6-1-1 on the season and 4-1-1 in Hockey East, while Vermont falls to 1-3-2 and 1-3-2. (more…)

The Takeaway: Mullane, Gaudreau Lead BC Past Notre Dame, 3-1

Saturday, November 10th, 2012

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College defeated Notre Dame, 3-1, at Conte Forum Friday night. Second-period goals from Pat Mullane and Johnny Gaudreau carried the Eagles before an empty-night marker Gaudreau sealed the win in the third. Notre Dame freshman Thomas Di Pauli scored his second of the season at 7 minutes, 10 seconds of the third period to bring the Fighting Irish back into the game.

BC goaltender Parker Milner and Notre Dame’s Steven Summerhays performed well in the game. Neither team managed a great deal of shots, but quality scoring chances were plentiful for both sides.

What I Saw

  • The skill of Gaudreau and Mullane gave BC the win on Friday night. The linemates’ second-period goals came on odd-man rushes – Mullane’s a breakaway and Gaudreau’s a 2-on-1 – and ended with nifty moves to beat Summerhays. For the most part, the teams played even hockey. Chances came and went, but BC capitalized on its opportunities. Mullane scored the Eagles’ first goals at 4:41 of the second period, winning a faceoff in the UND zone and immediately heading up ice. BC defenseman Patrick Wey hit the streaking Mullane, who walked in on Summerhays and fine space in the five-hole for the goal. Gaudreau, meanwhile, walked in with Steven Whitney, and beat Summerhays with a wrist shot to the near-side top corner. (more…)