St. Lawrence is bringing AIC head coach Eric Lang and Northeastern associate head coach Jerry Keefe in for interviews, sources tell CHN. The search could certainly expand, but at least right now, Lang and Keefe are the starting point.

Lang and Keefe aren’t surprise candidates. Lang, 43, is still considered a “young” coach and he has head-coaching experience, which it seems like SLU is prioritizing with these two as primary candidates.

Keefe, you’ll say, hasn’t been a head coach at the college level. But ask around. Everyone says he is essentially a second head coach at Northeastern along with Jim Madigan.

Lang took the AIC program from death’s door three years ago to where it was this season, when the Yellow Jackets won Atlantic Hockey and upset No. 1 St. Cloud State in the NCAA Tournament (they also nearly beat Denver to reach the Frozen Four). Lang has a proven track record of turning a program with limited resources into a contender. He knows that dynamic. 

Keefe makes sense for St. Lawrence as well, given Northeastern’s success. With the success the Huskies have had since Keefe and Madigan arrived, Keefe should be a candidate everywhere there’s an opening. 

What remains to be seen is how much interest Keefe might have in St. Lawrence. If you are asked to interview for a head-coaching job, and you’re not a head coach, you take the interview. But, Keefe is in a good place and has a good thing going with the Huskies. Madigan clearly values his contributions to the program, and he was given a five-year extension prior to the start of the season (along with Madigan). Assistant coaches don’t get five-year extensions very often. I’m guessing Northeastern is compensating Keefe well for his contributions, if they were willing to extend him a five-year deal.

However, how long is Keefe willing to wait for the Northeastern top job? We said that St. Lawrence would be a job that could attract top candidates — especially with the renovations to Appleton Arena ongoing — so it’s not surprising that someone with Keefe’s resume could be interested.

The biggest surprise, from sources we’ve spoken to, is that Providence associate head coach Kris Mayotte hasn’t been extended an in-person interview. Mayotte has experience at St. Lawrence, coaching under Greg Carvel, and has since been under the learning tree of Providence head coach Nate Leaman.

Both of Mayotte’s primary coaching mentors just led their team to the Frozen Four. Mayotte was on staff with one of those teams.

Mayotte has a lot of experience dealing with issues that face St. Lawrence. He was a Division I athlete on a Division III campus at Union (the same is true for St. Lawrence) and he was on staff at a D-I program on a D-III campus when he was coaching the Saints with Carvel. He knows how that works and how it all fits together.

At the same time, he knows what it looks like at Providence. The Friars have made huge infrastructure improvements since Leaman took over, and it was at Leaman’s direction. Mayotte has been along for that ride. He could help guide St. Lawrence and get to that next level as a program, if it wants to get there.

Like we wrote when the position opened up, the Saints have a lot of great choices. 

Sources have said it’s possible the university has a coach in place by the time the annual American Hockey Coaches Association convention begins in Naples, Fla. on May 1.

Denver and Minnesota-Duluth return to the NCAA Frozen Four next week. It’s the third in a row for the reigning national champions, UMD. For Denver, it’s a third trip in the last four years — a run highlighted by the Pioneers’ national title in 2018.

Yes, the NCHC boasts the last three national champions — North Dakota’s triumph in 2017 preceded Denver’s and UMD’s. But that doesn’t tell the story of UMD’s and Denver’s remarkable consistency — despite coaching changes, inevitable graduations, and early departures (many of which were inevitable, too).

Denver’s return to college hockey’s final weekend of play, in particular, is remarkable considering its rookie head coach — David Carle, not even 30 years of age, leading a team that lost its top three scorers from last year to the NHL. Henrik Borgstorm, Troy Terry, and Dylan Gambrell combined for 143 points last year.

Yet here they are again.

UMD? The Bulldogs lost their top assistant coach, Brett Larson, to league rival St. Cloud State. They faced the probability of a natural step back after the elation of winning last year’s title. They lost an all-time great captain in Karson Kuhlman.

Yet here they are again — looking to become the first team since (who else?) Denver to win back-to-back NCAA titles (2004-05).

“Probably a little bit of luck,” said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin, about his team’s consistency. “We’ve gone through ups and downs in my time here. We changed some recruiting philosophy back in ’08, ’09, looking to get a certain type of player. Certainly guys who you can build around who might be in your program for four years… We’ve always recruited players who we think fit here, more of a blue collar mentality. And we’ve found that and have had great leadership.”

For Denver, the script is similar.

“For us it’s about finding a balance between those perceived higher end guys and guys who are going to be four-year players in your program, who come in with a little bit more maturity and junior experience,” Carle said. “It’s been the recipe for Denver’s success. I’d date it back to the late ’90s when the recipe was put together. We’re just here trying to make sure we follow it, so that we can continue to put out teams that are consistently competing in the national tournament.”

The only way to really explain this type of consistency is to understand that — beyond the obvious cliche of it all — each player on the roster has fully bought into his coach’s vision. How else to explain UMD’s remarkable run of 12 straight one-goal wins in the NCAA tourney before the Bulldogs’ 3-1 win (a blowout, relatively speaking) over Quinnipiac in the NCAA quarterfinal round last week?

Since Sandelin became UMD’s head coach in 2000, UMD is 17-6 in the NCAA tourney, with two national titles this decade.

And in Denver, David Carle — just as Jim Montgomery did before him — often uses the refrain of playing “Denver Pioneer hockey” or simply praising his players for knowing “what it means to be a Denver Pioneer.”

It’s the foundation for consistency.

“It’s an understanding that you’re a part of something that’s much bigger than yourself,” Carle said. “No one person is bigger than this team or this program. There’s not a lot of egos — that gets checked at the door. It’s a huge part of our recruiting process and what we look for in young men and families, trying to filter that out on the front end. That allows them to come here and hold them to high standards and high level of accountability. 

“They learn to hold each other accountable.”

There are 60 teams in Division I men’s college hockey. Every April, only four get to play for the NCAA title. To be a part of that elite 6.6 percent — year after year, as Denver and UMD have done over the past few years — is remarkable.

But is it surprising? For Denver and UMD — among the bonafide elite in college hockey, coming from the best conference in the nation — it’s really  not surprising at all.

Heading into the last weekend of the Regular, I am not sure even true ECAC fans could have pictured just how close things are at the top. But here we are, as Cornell leads Quinnipiac and Harvard by a lone point, while Clarkson is just two points back of the Big Red. Cornell controls its own destiny, at the top, but with a tough game at Clarkson on Saturday, a lot could go wrong for the team from Ithaca. In a sense, because the Golden Knights own the tiebreaker, the Big Red could go from winning the Cleary Cup, to the four seed in just one game. Luckily for the Red, they have SLU on Saturday, which should assure them at least a bye.

Quinnipiac travels to Brown and Yale, while Harvard is in the capital region for a pair of games. Quinnipiac would hold singular tiebreakers on Cornell and Harvard, while Clarkson owns the singular tiebreaker on each of the other three in the top-4. Cornell would hold the singular tiebreaker on Harvard. Three-way tiebreakers would be a bit more complicated, but are a legitimate possibility. How cool would it be to see a four-way tie at the top, though. In that scenario, the cup is shared, but the seeding is ever important. Yale still can get a bye and are two points back of Clarkson, but the Knights would hold the tiebreaker, with its superior record against the other teams in the top-4.

This weekend is important for all of the above in regards to the pairwise, as well, as all but Quinnipiac are bubbilicious. Clarkson is 12th, Cornell is 13th and Harvard is 14th. Yale probably will need to win the ECAC tournament to get into the dance, as it is 24th in the pairwise.

Without further ado, here are my thoughts of the week:

With the ECAC race as close as it can be, the couple of weeks will be very interesting to see play out. Cornell only took a point out of a weekend against Yale and Brown, after a disappointing tie to Brown and a heavy loss to Yale. The Big Red’s lead at the top of the league is just one point, as Quinnipiac sits on 24 points. Beyond those two, the league continued to be tight down to seventh as the top-seven teams are separated by just seven points. Ultimately, all those teams have a mathematical shot at the regular season title but I would keep the favorite as Cornell, with Quinnipiac right on their heels. Yale is two points back and has been getting hotter, of late, while Clarkson and Harvard are three points back. 

The final bye will probably be one of the things to watch, as Clarkson and Harvard are currently tied on 22 points, while Brown and Dartmouth are three points back. I could see Dartmouth getting in that mix, but Brown’s schedule is pretty tough down the stretch. Brown plays Harvard on Friday, while the Big Green have a crucial game against Yale. The home ice berths seem pretty comfortable for the team’s 6-8, as RPI is four points behind Union and five behind the pair in sixth. Union, of course, is an enigma and we await to see which is the real one that will show up in the tournament.

Quinnipiac is still pretty close to a lock for the NCAA tournament, as it sits pretty in the top-six of the pairwise. Positions third to sixth are pretty close in RPI rating, so a big weekend for the Bobcats could help it move up. Really, however, just one win counts for anything, the Clarkson game is huge. Cornell, Clarkson and Harvard are bubble-minded as the three are 10th, 13th and 15th, respectively. Positions 9-16 are relatively close in RPI ratings, so any stumbles could move those teams out of the picture.

Here are my thoughts for the week:

Less than a month remains in the season and the Big Ten is still in flux. Just eight points separate teams two through seven, which equates to roughly three conference games. The Buckeyes are in first by eight points, but the pair of weekend losses to the Gophers dropped Ohio State to seventh in the PairWise.

The Buckeyes right now are the only Big Ten team currently inside the top 16. Notre Dame and Penn State are outside the bubble at 17 and 18, respectively.

Michigan State is a lot better than people think

After splitting a series with Penn State, the Spartans are sixth in the conference and have been hopping up and down the standings the second half of the season. Backed by their top line of Taro Hirose, Patrick Khoderenko and Mitchell Lewandowski, the Spartans have contended this season. The goaltending has improved slightly as well, with freshman Drew DeRidder posting a team-high .910 save percentage. He’s been splitting starts with John Lethemon.

A few weeks ago I spoke with Khoderenko and he said this year the team believes they should be winning games. Danton Cole has only been at the helm for a few seasons, but the fact he’s coaching a team mostly comprised of Tom Anastos’ recruits and he’s getting them to win is a good sign for the Spartans.

It can be argued the Big Ten isn’t as strong this year as it was last year, which is true. But Michigan State’s play has improved regardless.

‘Tis the season of World Junior injuries

Penn State’s Evan Barrett was injured in Saturday’s game against Michigan State. Wisconsin is still without K’Andre Miller, who may miss the rest of the season. Those players were injured after returning from the tournament, but both Penn State and Michigan already lost players at the tournament in Aarne Talvitie and Josh Norris. And Will Lockwood was hurt at last year’s World Juniors.

What’s worse is that all these teams are fighting for home advantage in a very close Big Ten.

Ohio State’s Goaltending

Nappier leads the Big Ten in goaltending with a .939 save percentage. That’s 10 points above last year’s leader, Cale Morris. But, Nappier has started 10 less games than Morris and has played in seven less games because he’s been splitting starts with Sean Romeo. Romeo, a large part of Ohio State’s success last year, has a .908 save percentage.

Nappier is also the only goaltender in the top three who hasn’t held majority of his team’s starts this year. He shares that honor with Michigan State’s Drew DeRidder, who ranks fourth as a 00 freshman and has a .910 save percentage but has played in just 16 games. 

While Nappier’s numbers have been better all season, the team has fared about equally with Nappier and Romeo. Nappier has played in three of Ohio State’s losses while Romeo has played in two. That isn’t an indication of which goaltender is better, but rather perhaps an indication of why Steve Rohlik has kept the rotation despite Nappier’s higher save percentage. 

With the stretch run in offing, the league is still insanely close in key spots. Cornell has built a three-point edge in the league standings as they are unbeaten in 12 of their last 13 games, dating back to a loss against Dartmouth in late November. Colgate, who also has other big results, defeated the Big Red in overtime a few weeks back. The run from positions 2-8, however, is really close as six points separate Quinnipiac from Union in eighth place. Positions 2-5 are separated by just a pair of points, while Brown finds itself a meager three points out of a bye (yes that Brown).

The top-team’s had plenty of success in non-conference and have the ECAC is reaping the rewards, as four league teams would currently make the tournament with all four being in the top-13 of the all important pairwise. This does not include both Union and Yale, who are 20th and 23rd, respectively in the pairwise. Both have long shots, but Union has some big wins that has propped it up all season. It has become evident that the league could be wide open in the tournament, which could mean a team outside these six could win the Whitelaw, like Princeton did last season.

Now that many teams have entered the annual holiday break, we can take a look back at the first half and everything that we have learned about the league. It is clear that power has shifted back to the Greater New Haven area, as Quinnipiac is the undisputed top dog in the and Yale will probably end up right on its heels. The Bobcats picked up a split against upstart Massachusetts over the weekend, while the Bulldogs dropped a lone game to the Minutemen.

QU has had most of the success in non-conference action in recent weeks, as the league’s record against the other conferences has plummeted. With many games still to go in the busy holiday stretch, that can improve and it will be integral for the few teams that have tournament aspirations. In terms of the conference standings, they are starting to take shape with Yale at the top with 13 points and Quinnipiac hot on its trails with 12. The Bobcats have a game in-hand, however, and in a cruel set of circumstances we will have to wait until mid-February before the two teams play in Hamden. Dartmouth, as I have nicknamed Jeckyll and Hyde this year, is in third, while Cornell is in fourth.

Up and down the out-of-town scoreboard, the ECAC saw success over the weekend. Rensselaer picked up a big win on the road against Umass Lowell on Friday night – an important outcome for Rensselaer. The Engineers led the River Hawks on Sunday, but ran out of gas and conceded four in a row in a 5-2 defeat. The steps RPI has taken this year have been impressive, and Dave Smith should be lauded for that. In all, the ECAC went 5-3-0 in non-conference play over the weekend

Both ECAC teams went 1-0-1 in Northern Ireland, with Union winning the Belpot in a 2-1 win over Boston University. Yale picked up a win against in-state rival, Connecticut, by a 6-3 scoreline. Quinnipiac continued its successful year with a sweep at the ever-difficult Alfond Arena against Maine. Odeen Tufto was ECAC player of the week picking up hat trick on Friday night and five points in the game. QU’s youngsters have also performed well, as Ethan De Jong won one of the ECAC Hockey Weekly Awards with a four point weekend. Princeton played in a highly entertaining overtime loss to UMass, and Harvard picked up a win against Cornell at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Quinnipiac made a big statement over the weekend with a sweep of Colgate and Cornell, while Princeton faltered twice on the same trip. This weekend Clarkson also had a really good weekend against Michigan Tech, sweeping the Huskies of the WCHA out of the North Country. The other North Country team, SLU, picked up a much-needed win against  Minnesota on Friday night in a great turnaround after its loss to Mercyhurst.

We are another week into the season, but the standings are still a mess. Although QU sits at the top with eight points, the uneven nature of the schedule means that Cornell is two points back, with a pair of games in hand. Dartmouth is also two points back and has played one less game. Interestingly enough, while QU has played six league games, the two north country schools have played just two. I wouldn’t write off Clarkson from being near the top at the end because they have played four less games and they have looked really good, at times, which I will talk about below. As I keep reminding everyone, look at standings and pairwise with a load of caution until, say, Christmastime.  

Another week, another one filled with interesting results. The Princeton Tigers appear to be the team to beat in the ECAC right now. The Tigers are 3-0-1 in the league and recently seem to score just for fun.  Behind them, a mess of teams has been on-again, off-again in recent weeks. Like Quinnipiac and Dartmouth. The Big Green lost to Brown on Friday, but beat Yale on Saturday. Likewise, Quinnipiac defeated RPI and lost to Union.

Since the RPI sweep, the Dutchmen have just a lone loss against Princeton. It is easy to see now: Those losses to the Engineers will prove costly. Cornell is obviously a team to watch, but the team has only played two league games. The Big Red swept Northern Michigan this weekend to make it four straight wins. Colgate deserved a better fate on Saturday against Ohio State, while Brown has looked better so far.