Colgate and Union have steamrolled out of the gate. The two are a combined 6-1 on the young season and have done nothing but impress. The two were expected to be good, picked first and second in preseason, so the success is hardly a surprise.  Clarkson hit a rock over the weekend scoring just one goal in two games, while getting swept in a home and home by Vermont. St. Lawrence continues to surprise a bit, as the Saints were a goal away from sweeping the weekend against highly touted Ferris State. Instead, they picked up a win and a loss. Quinnipiac did little to impress me last weekend and I will discuss its struggles on Friday below.

The conference as a whole is looking good in terms of the inter-conference records, as the conference is 13-9-2 on the young season. It also has a winning record against Hockey East, which is always nice to see. With most of that action coming on the road against quality competition thus far it is so far so good in comparison to the other conferences.

The ECAC preview package was released late last week. Make sure to check out the team by team preview, the Watch List and my article on Union’s, Charlie Vasaturo. Without further ado here are the things I see as noteworthy for the week: (more…)

Well, things aren’t going well for Big Ten hockey. The conference went a combined 2-7-1 last weekend, with Michigan and Michigan State picking up the only wins. Both Wisconsin and Ohio State were swept, while Penn State lost and tied at the Brice Alaska Goal Rush.

Michigan started the weekend with a 5-1 loss to UNH at home. After starting Zach Nagelvoort on Friday, the Wolverines opted for Steve Racine on Saturday. Behind goals from Michael Downing and Cutler Martin, Michigan salvaged the weekend with a 2-1 win on Saturday. Even with the win, losing 5-1 at home for Michigan is a scary thought.

The Spartans split their series with Massachusetts, earning a 5-3 win and then falling 4-3. It’s early, but that puts Michigan State ahead of their 2.19 goals per game average from last season. It’s early, but the Spartans offense has really gotten a boost from a healthy Matt Berry, who recorded three points (2g, 1a) in each game over the weekend.

(After the jump: Ohio State’s possession problems, Penn State’s surprise start, Ohio State’s goalkeeping) (more…)

Since advanced stats like Corsi are becoming more and more important, I wanted to try calculating them for Big Ten hockey. This is my first attempt, and it’s what will become a weekly calculation and breakdown of Corsi stats within the conference.

Corsi essentially measures puck possession, accounting for all shots taken by both teams. I won’t go into a more in-depth explanation of how Corsi came about, but if you’re interested in that and more advanced stats, check out Scott McLaughlin’s piece on WEEI.

To calculate the Corsi stats for each team, I looked through the available play-by-play archives of five games from last weekend: Minnesota’s matches at the Icebreaker tournament, Ohio State’s contests against Providence and Penn State’s 7-1 win over UConn. I manually counted each shot and denoted when it was taken, so I could break up Corsi by period and by situation.

I ended up with several categories for each period and the game overall: 5-on-5 play, penalty kill, even strength and total Corsi. I chose to express the stats as percentages.

I’m a big fan of stats, but I know they’re only telling when you put them in context. So I wanted to compare these stats to what I saw in the games, but I only watched Minnesota last week. As far as the Gophers are concerned, their total Corsi of 62.79 percent against RPI last Sunday supports how much Minnesota dominated the Engineers. The Gophers also recorded a 5-on-5 first-period Corsi of 70.98 percent. (more…)

All of the Big Ten teams are in action this week except for Minnesota, which has a bye after the Icbreaker Tournament.

Michigan State will take the ice for its first game of the season, while Penn State heads to Alaska for the Brice Goal Rush. Ohio State has a home-and-home with Miami and Michigan hosts New Hampshire. Wisconsin and Northern Michigan will play two in Green Bay, Wisc.

It’s early, so there isn’t much to say about these matchups or what these teams look like, but hopefully this week will give us some more insight. (more…)

The college hockey season has commenced and we ECAC fans again have the privilege of fielding one of the deepest conferences in the country . One should expect the complete ECAC preview package to be released in the coming days. Fair warning, if you don’t like the opinions,  RPI coach Seth Appert said it right in his preseason conference call. Appert said, “generally speaking the coaches and media are wrong. That is pretty consistent and I don’t put a lot of stock in it.” He of course points out that preseason polls never pan out. There are always surprises and I am sure this year will prove to be another year where we aren’t even close, although we all strive to be as close as possible. Unlike teams, we get new chances every year to prove we are “experts.”

Colgate went out to St. Cloud, took a quick 2-0 lead in game 1 and were able to hold for the win against a solid Husky team. Colgate, though, is expected to win. Getting a big win on the road was exactly the start it needed and wanted. It dropped game 2 but winning one of two against SCSU is quite the start, also it could turn out to be a huge pairwise boost at the end of the season because of the way road games are weighted. Unlike Colgate, Rensselaer had no pressure to begin the season and it showed at the Icebreaker. RPI faced the host, Notre Dame, on opening night and came out with an impressive 3-2 victory in enemy territory. I will have more on the Engineers below, because I was quite impressed with what I saw. Both Rensselaer and Colgate have impressive, tough non-conference schedules, so be on the lookout when those big name teams come to your town. Without further ado, lets get to my thoughts of the week. (more…)

The college hockey season officially kicked off this weekend, and all the Big Ten teams were in action save Michigan and Michigan State.

And it’s definitely a new season.

Wisconsin is 0-2-0 after dropping two games in the Kendall Hockey Classic and scoring three goals in total. Penn State is 1-0-1 after the weekend, when the Nittany Lions tied UConn and then won 7-1. Penn State hit a series of program firsts with the win, as it was the first seven-goal game against a Division I opponent, the first win over UConn and the first Hockey East victory.

The stories are different for Penn State and Wisconsin, but it’s been much of the same for Minnesota. The Gophers defeated Minnesota-Duluth and then dominated RPI over the weekend to claim their second-straight Ice Breaker championship.

While Minnesota played a closer game with UMD, the Gophers just crushed the Engineers. The only reason Minnesota didn’t score more than three goals is because Jason Kasdorf is back in net for RPI.

While it’s only been one weekend, Minnesota really does look like the team most of us think will win the NCAA tournament. It’s hard to argue with a powerful offense, Kyle Rau, a spectacular defense and a wall in net with Adam Wilcox.

So far, Michigan State is the only team that hasn’t played a regular-season game yet.

(After the jump: It’s still early, Wisconsin’s learning curve and Ohio State’s scoring surprise) (more…)

The 2014 Frozen Four is underway. Boston College is taking on Union, while Minnesota and North Dakota will face off tonight. Between the four teams, 39 drafted players will take the ice at the Wells Fargo Center. Here are all the NHL draft picks playing in the Frozen Four, broken up by NHL team:

Anaheim Ducks – Keaton Thompson (North Dakota)

Boston Bruins – Ryan Fitzgerald (BC), Zane Gothberg (North Dakota)

Buffalo Sabres – Christian Isackson (Minnesota)

Calgary Flames – Johnny Gaudreau (BC), Bill Arnold (BC)

Chicago Blackhawks – Chris Calnan (BC), Kevin Hayes (BC), Nick Mattson (North Dakota), Luke Johnson (North Dakota), Justin Holl (Minnesota)

Colorado Avalanche – Nate Condon (Minnesota)

Columbus Blue Jackets – Mike Reilly (Minnesota), Seth Ambroz (Minnesota)

Detroit Red Wings – Ben Marshall (Minnesota)

Edmonton Oilers – Dillon Simpson (North Dakota)

Florida Panthers – Michael Matheson (BC), Ian McCoshen (BC), Rocco Grimaldi (North Dakota), Kyle Rau (Minnesota)

Los Angeles Kings – Paul LaDue (North Dakota), Hudson Fashing (Minnesota)

Minnesota Wild – Adam Gilmour (BC)

Montreal Canadiens – Mark MacMillan (North Dakota)

Nashville Predators – Wade Murphy (North Dakota)

New Jersey Devils – Steve Santini (BC), Derek Rodwell (North Dakota)

New York Islanders – Jake Bischoff (Minnesota), Taylor Cammarata (Minnesota)

New York Rangers – Brady Skjei (Minnesota)

Philadelphia Flyers – Shayne Gostisbehere (Union), Michael Parks (North Dakota)

San Jose Sharks – Isaac MacLeod (BC), Gage Ausmus (North Dakota), Michael Brodzinski (Minnesota)

St. Louis Blues – Jordan Schmaltz (North Dakota)

Tampa Bay Lightning – Brendan O’Donnell (North Dakota), Adam Wilcox  (Minnesota)

Washington Capitals – Travis Boyd  (Minnesota)

After Wisconsin beat Ohio State in overtime, Mark Zengerle said the game-winning goal was a blur.

That’s how I feel about the entire weekend.

Unfortunately I missed the first two games of the tournament, but flew in on Friday to catch the semifinals. It was a long day at the Xcel Energy Center, but everything was organized well, from game notes to press conferences.

But it was nothing compared to Saturday.

At the same time the Badgers and Buckeyes were playing each other for the Big Ten title in St. Paul, Minn., North Dakota was waiting and watching in Minneapolis, Minn., hoping for a Badger win. Their fans were watching there as well, as North Dakota had played in the NCHC consolation game at the Target Center earlier in the day.

If Ohio State won the Big Ten title, North Dakota would miss the NCAA Tournament.

Oddly, we checked Twitter from the Xcel Energy Center for reactions from the North Dakota camp as the Wisconsin-Ohio State game continued.

When Wisconsin’s Mark Zengerle scored the championship-winning goal on Saturday, the Xcel Energy Center went insane. And so did Minneapolis, where North Dakota fans were following the game (Brad Schlossman, North Dakota reporter, put together a great piece on what that situation was like).

Blur, yes. (more…)

Minnesota clinched the first Big Ten conference title on Friday with an overtime win against Michigan. Kyle Rau scored the game winner, and Gophers’ senior class became the first at Minnesota to win three-straight conference titles.

The Badgers finished the regular season in second place, Michigan third and Penn State last. Ohio State split the series with Penn State while Michigan State also split with Wisconsin, leaving the Buckeyes with the fourth seed and the Spartans with the fifth.

After the weekend, Minnesota is No. 1 in PairWise rankings and Wisconsin is No. 5. While the rankings will change during the conference tournaments, the Gophers and Badgers should make the NCAA Tournament regardless.

The Wolverines have the most at stake this weekend, as they are currently 11th in the PairWise. If they defeat the Nittany Lions in the first game, the Wolverines should make the NCAA Tournament.

(After the jump: Big Ten Awards, playoff uncertainty, Michigan possibly getting hot) (more…)

The Big Ten released its inaugural conference awards, which include the Player of the Year, Goaltender of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year.

Some of the media (myself included) weren’t asked to vote, but I compiled my own awards.

A lot of the choices I agree with and a lot of them are close calls. Adam Wilcox earned a first team selection as well as the goaltender and player of the year awards. I would’ve put Wisconsin’s Joel Rumpel on the First Team and made him the Goaltender of the Year — but only by a very, very slim margin.

But I think Ohio State’s Ryan Dzingel should be the league’s Player of the Year. Overall he leads Big Ten players with 43 points, and he has a league-high 24 points in conference play. He’s also an extremely skilled and talented player.

The All-Freshman Team consisted of JT Compher, Hudson Fasching, Nick Schilkey, Michael Downing, Drew Brevig and Christian Frey.

It’s surprising Frey earned the nod over Zach Nagelvoort, who was forced into Michigan’s starting job after Steve Racine went down. I think Nagelvoort had to play in a very tough situation with the Wolverines.

Frey had to join a tumultuous situation in Ohio State, but he played less than half the season. I’ve seen both Frey and Nagelvoort playa little bit this season. I’ve seen good things from them and I’ve also seen them struggle.

My guess is it’s because Nagelvoort started four of the last 10 games, while Frey started seven of the last 10.

I also swapped JT Compher for Hudson Fasching as the Rookie of the Year.

Here are my Big Ten awards:

(more…)