Archive for January, 2018

Three Things I Think: Atlantic Hockey, Jan. 31

Wednesday, January 31st, 2018

As we head into the final month of regular-season action in Atlantic Hockey, the race for the top is heating up. The Golden Griffins remain in first place with 26 points and a 13-7 record, but the Crusaders are on their heels, matching their point total but with a 10-6-6 conference record.

Mercyhurst’s Lakers are just two points behind, with Robert Morris, Niagara and AIC all eclipsing the 20-point mark as well.

Here are the Atlantic Hockey standings, as of January 31:

  1. Canisius
  2. Holy Cross
  3. Mercyhurst
  4. Robert Morris
  5. Niagara
  6. AIC
  7. RIT
  8. Army
  9. Air Force
  10. Bentley
  11. Sacred Heart (more…)

North Dakota’s Cole Smith: Dirty Hit?

Saturday, January 27th, 2018

“Same fu**ing guy, same fu**ing guy,” screamed Denver head coach Jim Montgomery on the bench — picked up by the TV microphones and cameras early in the third period of Friday’s thrilling game between Denver and North Dakota. It was the first college hockey game since 2011 featuring two starting goaltenders who have won national titles.

The game officially ended in a 3-3 tie, with Troy Terry scoring in the bonus 3-on-3 overtime session to give Denver the extra point in the NCHC standings.

Montgomery’s comments from the bench referred to an incident in November, the last time North Dakota and Denver squared off. UND sophomore Cole Smith was called for a boarding major that injured Denver defenseman Adam Plant, who needed significant on-ice attention from the medical and training staff before being helped to the locker room. Plant is a reliable senior defenseman for Montgomery — Friday’s game in Grand Forks, after all, was his 139th in a Pioneer uniform.

At 3:14 of the third period, Plant collided with Smith again, this time with both players battling for a loose puck in the Denver offensive zone. In real time, it genuinely looked like an unfortunate mishap, with Plant’s momentum seemingly propelling him into Smith as they both reached for the puck.

The replays on CBS Sports Network, unfortunately, show a different story.

There’s no objective way to sugarcoat this — it was truly a shocking hit by Smith. Here’s what happened: Smith was a step late to the play. After Plant won the loose puck, Smith raised his left arm in an unnatural position, and as he leans in (as opposed to trying to avoid the hit), his elbow struck a defenseless Plant in the right temple. Plant, who crumpled to the ice, lying flat on his back, very well may have been unconscious for a moment. Clearly shaken, he needed plenty of assistance to skate off the ice. Though there’s no official word from Denver yet, it was an obvious, serious head injury and presumably a concussion.  

After the game, UND head coach Brad Berry said, “Is it a penalty? Probably a penalty.” — which is a bit disappointing. It was definitely (not probably) a major penalty, and the only question now is whether the NCHC will issue a suspension this afternoon.

I’m not suggesting Smith — a sophomore who has scored 5 goals this season — is a dirty player (typically, in fact, he isn’t), and it’s impossible for me or anyone else to comment on what he was thinking as the play unfolded. An otherwise clean player can certainly suffer a lapse and deliver an anomalous dirty hit, and in reality, these plays happen quickly and the players’ movements are instinctive. And of course, despite Montgomery’s comments on the bench, it’s likely just an unfortunate coincidence that Friday’s occurrence involved the same two players as the Nov. 18 contest. But again, this singular play was startling and unnecessary, and I can’t imagine that Smith will avoid a brief suspension from the NCHC as a result of the hit. 

Of note, 36 of the sophomore forward’s 58 penalty minutes this season have come in three games against Denver.

The injury to Plant depleted the Pioneer defense for the remainder of the game, but the Fighting Hawks battled back regardless — overcoming Terry’s power play goal on the ensuing major power play and earning a tie thanks to a Hayden Shaw extra-attacker goal that beat Denver’s Tanner Jaillet. Still, North Dakota remains winless in its last four games. Denver remains in first place in the NCHC standings, although St. Cloud State — four points back — has two games in hand.

UND and Denver face off again on Saturday in Grand Forks to complete the regular season series — continuing what has become one of the most dramatic rivalries in college hockey over the last few years.

In case you missed it:

  • Terry will be the youngest player on Team USA at the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea next month. I spoke to him earlier this week about the opportunity to return to international play.
  • Western Michigan has been hit with the injury bug, losing two of its most talented offensive players in Colt Conrad and Wade Allison. Allison is out for the season, and I spoke to head coach Andy Murray on Thursday about how his team is trying to overcome these injuries. On Friday, the Broncos gave up 6 goals for the second consecutive game, this time in a 6-2 loss in Omaha in a game that was 2-2 with seven minutes to play.
  • Special teams proved important around the NCHC on Friday. Minnesota-Duluth scored 2 shorthanded goals in a 5-1 win against St. Cloud, while Colorado College went 3-for-3 on the power play to beat Miami 6-3. The Tigers improve to 11-11-3 this season, looking to finish over .500 for the first time since 2012.

 

Three Things I Think: Atlantic Hockey, Jan. 23

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018

The Canisius College Golden Griffins remain atop the Atlantic Hockey standings this week, tied with the Holy Cross Crusaders for the conference lead with 24 points. Nipping right at their heels: Niagara, Mercyhurst and Robert Morris, who are all within two wins of first place.

Meanwhile, 10th place Sacred Heart came out of this past week with a pair of wins, while Mercyhurst won twice and tied once. The second game of the Sacred Heart / Air Force series was postponed due to the government shutdown.

Here are the Atlantic Hockey standings, as of January 23:

  1. Canisius
  2. Holy Cross
  3. Niagara
  4. Mercyhurst
  5. Robert Morris
  6. AIC
  7. Army
  8. RIT
  9. Air Force
  10. Sacred Heart
  11. Bentley (more…)

Three Things I Think: ECAC 1/18

Thursday, January 18th, 2018

Nearing the midway point of the ECAC season, there are two teams that are a combined 18-1-1 in league play. Those two teams, of course, are Clarkson who is 10-0-0 in the ECAC, while Cornell is 8-1-1. The parity, or lack thereof, in the league this year is concerning to me. It sure seems that Clarkson and Cornell are going to be a runaway pair, which I will discuss below. Of course the St. Lawrence situation is tough and they have yet to win a league game. I assume they will before the end of the year, but time is running out to do so.

In terms of the pairwise, Clarkson and Cornell are solid and if the tourney started today both would be one seeds. Clarkson moved as high as the top spot over the weekend, but Notre Dame took that spot back when all the results came back in. Both, the Golden Knights and Big Red will have a tough time keeping those lofty positions because of the league’s record in non-conference play, if they were to lose games down the stretch. Clarkson has a better chance to keep it because it has five wins against teams in the top-17 of pairwise, not including its win against Cornell. I would also look for Harvard to maybe get in the picture in the coming weeks, which I will also discuss below.

Without further ado, here are my thoughts for the week, some predictions for the weekend and power rankings.

Below the Break: Lack of Parity in the league, Harvard Set for a Run, Princeton hasn’t been the team I thought they would be (more…)

Three Things I Think: Atlantic Hockey, Jan. 14

Sunday, January 14th, 2018

It’s been a busy calendar year so far for the Atlantic Hockey conference, including 10 games between January 12-13.

This past weekend, Mercyhurst, Holy Cross and Air Force all skated away with pairs of wins. Meanwhile, Niagara, RIT and Sacred Heart failed to find success this weekend.

Here are the Atlantic Hockey standings, as of January 14:

  1. Canisius
  2. Holy Cross
  3. Niagara
  4. Army
  5. AIC
  6. Robert Morris
  7. Mercyhurst
  8. RIT
  9. Air Force
  10. Bentley
  11. Sacred Heart

(more…)

Friday Thoughts Around the ECAC and Union’s Bennett Goes Off

Saturday, January 13th, 2018

Last night, a lot happened in the ECAC, and I figured I would give an update on some of my thoughts heading into a full slate of Saturday games.

Clarkson is now the top ranked Pairwise team in the country after its, 4-1, win against Union on the road. The Golden Knights have won 13 games in a row and are now 9-0-0 in league play. Clarkson is first in the standings and has a three-point lead on Harvard/Cornell. Union fell to fourth in the standings, while Colgate is right on its heels. There is a steep divide between the top five teams and Dartmouth in sixth, with a four point difference.

Clarkson Rolls On. Who ends the Winning Run?

Each time I see Clarkson, I feel as though they only get better.

Despite having some rough patches in the second period on Friday night, the Golden Knights stood behind goaltender Jake Kielly and pulled away in the third.

No matter what Union threw at them, I never thought they were losing that game and it seemed like they were comfortable.

The Golden Knights are deep at forward, have great goaltending, work hard and their defense is exemplary at both ends of the ice. Teams with this much balance go far in the tournaments and one should think Tech should continue on this roll. There is so much to like about this team and if you listen to Union coach Rick Bennett, he would tell you the same: (more…)

Comparing penalty numbers in college hockey with the NHL

Friday, January 12th, 2018

Special teams has become a major focus for teams across college hockey, with more game time spent on special teams than every before, it seems. Across the country, the WCHA has the most power plays per game this season, with 9.2. The disparity between top and bottom is somewhat large, with the Big Ten averaging the least number of power plays (7.1) and then there’s a group in the middle — the ECAC, Hockey East, Atlantic Hockey and the NCHC — that all range between 8.6-8.4.

College hockey averages far more time on special teams than the NHL. This season, NHL games are averaging 6.4 power plays per game, and last season the league averaged just 5.8 power plays per game. College Hockey doesn’t have a single league that averages less than seven power plays per game, and the NHL hasn’t averaged more than seven per game since 2008.

“In some games, they let you play, and in other games, they don’t,” Merrimack head coach Mark Dennehy said. “I don’t think there is an across-the-board standard and that’s an issue. The NCAA gives us the rules, and then each league interprets them differently. It’s the same rulebook, but you go league-to-league and you see different averages. Are some leagues playing cleaner than others? I don’t think so. I think it comes down to each league interpreting the rulebook differently.”

Dennehy said the biggest disparity in how rules are called is in regards to goalie interference, and contact with the goaltender in front of the net.

“I think scoring is up slightly,” he said. “My guess is injuries to goalies might also be up, because what you’re basically allowed to do now is run the goalie. It still blows my mind. If you were to take someone who doesn’t understand hockey, and you asked them to explain when you could hit the goalie and when you can’t, they would tell you that if the goalie is out of the blue, you can’t hit them, but if they’re in the blue you can hit them as much as you want. If you touch a goalie when he leaves the crease to go behind the net, you’re going to the box every single time. How often is there contact with the goalie with the crease? It makes zero sense. None. You can’t interfere on dumps, but what about when they’re standing in front of your own net?”

Three Things I Think: Atlantic Hockey, Jan. 3

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018

Atlantic Hockey returned from its break with a handful of games on Friday, Dec. 29 and Saturday, Dec. 30 to finish off the 2017 calendar year. Many teams faced non-conference action over the past few days, including games against Minnesota, Colorado College, Ohio State and Clarkson.

Here are the Atlantic Hockey standings, as of January 3:

  1. Canisius
  2. Holy Cross
  3. Niagara
  4. Robert Morris
  5. RIT
  6. Army
  7. AIC
  8. Bentley
  9. Mercyhurst
  10. Air Force
  11. Sacred Heart

(more…)

Three Things I Think: ECAC 1/1

Monday, January 1st, 2018

A few weeks ago, nobody would’ve suggested St. Lawrence could head three hours east and win the Catamount Cup. But over the weekend the Saints did just that.

A win against Vermont was a positive development for the team that went 1-14-1 in the first half. The fact it was able to beat UMass-Lowell the next night showed that anything can happen in college hockey and anyone can beat any team.

Considering what that program has gone through, this win will go down as a bright spot in a season that has largely gone south. Below, I will talk about whether this outcome is a sign of things to come or whether it might be a mirage.

Dartmouth and Princeton also had good weekends, as the Tigers picked up two ties against St. Cloud State while Dartmouth had a win/tie against UNH and Minnesota-Duluth, respectively. I will talk about Princeton below, but I will wait on Dartmouth for a feature later this week. Both Harvard and Yale had up-and-down weekends, while Union and RPI struggled to the tune of two losses.

The weekend’s results continued the rocky non-conference results that the ECAC has put together this season, but the saving grace has been Cornell and Clarkson; they have been impressive. That is why both teams are currently in the top-4 of the pairwise, while others have fallen back. The league has played a tough non-conference schedule, as a whole, and has fared decently well against top teams.

Without further ado here are my thoughts of the week.

Below the break: Great Response from Yale, Princeton needs to build on last weekend, Can St. Lawrence sustain it? (more…)