There has been much change in the ECAC Power Rankings, mainly because the semester is anew and some teams are either making statements or have fallen off. Union hasn’t played since early December and they take the number 1 spot for the first time this season, as Quinnipiac and Clarkson have stumbled a bit. Union sits at the top of the ECAC standings but many teams are within striking distance of the top. Without further ado, here are this week’s power rankings.

1. Union (12-3-3, 8-1-0 ECAC) – Before Break 2

Union has not played since December 14th. It will get a trial by fire on Friday, as it will face Quinnipiac for the top spot in the ECAC standings. If there is one coach that would have his team more ready in this situation than Rick Bennett I would love to see said bench boss’ resume. Bennett will have his Dutch more than ready for this big tilt. (more…)

Boston, Mass – Though winless since Dec. 6 and in the midst of a five-game Hockey East stretch, the Dartmouth Big Green downed Boston University 4-2 Wednesday night at Agganis Arena in the first meeting between the two teams since 2008. Charlie Mosey, Brad Schierhorn, Nick Lovejoy and Eric Neily tallied goals for Dartmouth, while Cason Hohmann and Matt Grzelcyk scored for the Terriers. Big Green goaltender Charles Grant made 26 saves on 28 shots.

What I saw:

– Dartmouth was very aggressive in the offensive zone, attempting 55 shots over the first two periods, also totaling 20 grade-a chances throughout the night.

– Boston’s defense seemed sluggish at times, specifically its backcheck, which led to several Big Green odd-man rushes, and approximately four or five 2-on-1’s.

What I thought:

– Dartmouth came to play, and it was evident from the get-go. The Big Green was winning battles and races at both ends of the ice, and also looked to be skating with a greater sense of urgency. For a team that’s gone just 3-11-2 this season, it was certainly a pleasant surprise.

– Boston struggled in its second game back from winter break; not good for a Terriers team that has gone 0-4-1 in its past five. It definitely feels like Boston hasn’t found its identity yet, which will need to come together soon given the start of the second half.

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Cambridge, MASS – Harvard and Quinnipiac squared off for the 21st time in their short history as opponents. Harvard held a slight edge at 9-8-3 in the all-time series coming into the night. The first period was very Quinnipiacesque, as the Bobcats dominated the possession. It outshot the Crimson 11-6 in the period and left with a 1-0 lead. Kellen Jones scored the only goal in the first period from the slot on a wrister at the seven minute, 33 second mark of the period.

The second period was much of the same but Harvard had the best goaltender in the period. Raphael Girard was phenomenal in the period stoning quality shot, after quality Bobcat shot. Girard’s efforts were rewarded at 12:22 of the period, when Max Everson sent a beauty of a pass to Kyle Criscuolo in the low slot that gave Harvard a 1-1 tie with Quinnipiac in the second period. Matthew Peca scored a go-ahead goal at 2:14 of the third period, which looked to be the game winner until the waning moments of the contest. Harvard’s Alexander Kerfoot scored a game-tying,extra-attacker goal with 49 seconds remaining, which sent the game into overtime.

Harvard and Quinnipiac played an entertaining, scoreless overtime and the 2-2 tie would hold as the final score. Quinnipiac moves its record to 15-3-5, 6-2-3 in the ECAC,  while Harvard goes to 5-7-3, 2-6-3. The point puts Quinnipiac a point behind ECAC leader, Union in the race for the regular season title who waits in the wings for a huge matchup on Friday night in Hamden. The Bobcats, though, have played three more games the Dutchmen and its time may be running out to make a run, as most teams around it have played three less games. (more…)

There have been some interesting storylines since I last posted. Some teams seem to be on the rise, while others are going in the opposite direction. As a whole, the conference is sitting in a good spot in regards to the NCAA tournament with four teams comfortably on the inside. That is of course all arbitrary because the second half always has a team or two or three that drops out of the top 14 or 15 teams in the Pairwise. The second half always has teams that come out of nowhere as well, so what you see now is not set in stone.

Colgate went out to the Mariucci Classic in Minnesota and shocked everyone by winning both of its games, taking home the tournament title. It not only defeated number one ranked Minnesota in a shootout but it backed up its performance by winning 3-0 against number two ranked, Ferris State . I will discuss what I think about it below but it is a trend that can only be positive for such a young team such as Colgate. Lets not get ahead of ourselves, though, in thinking that it is all of a sudden great team and in the hunt for a National Championship because of one two game stretch. I guess you kind of have a hint of what I am going to say.

Quinnipiac and Harvard will reopen conference play for the second half on Tuesday. QU heads into the game second in the conference with 14 points, but after the game most teams in the conference will have three games in hand on it. Union continues to lead the conference, but teams such as Clarkson, Cornell and Colgate sit within six points of the top. The season is still relatively young though at halfway. Full conference slates will commence at the end of February with most teams playing two conference games a week at that point. Without further ado, here are my thoughts of the week: (more…)

Finally, the “less Big Ten teams played than number of things” week is upon us and honestly, it isn’t as bad as I would have thought.

Okay last weekend wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was probably for the best that Big Ten play did not start again right after the holiday break. Everyone besides Ohio State (and many of the top ten teams nationally) has had at least one game where rust was prevalent in the last couple weeks. Friday may have been the worst night in conference history.

(After the jump, this week’s 3 Things about just 2 clubs playing turns in 5 things. Things discussed include the lack of Big Ten expansion, Minnesota’s shootout woes, Wisconsin’s Jake McCabe scoring twice to save the weekend for the Badgers, and next weekend’s showdown with Michigan.) (more…)

Durham, NH- It is amazing how fast a game can change at times, but for UNH it took all of one minute, and 42 seconds in the third period to turn a deficit into a win. Nebraska-Omaha scored the only goal in the first period, when Josh Archibald got a lucky bounce off the fist of Brett Pesce that went into the net to give UNO a 1-0 first intermission lead. Much like the first period, the second period was a defensive chess match but UNH scored a tying goal one minute, 52 seconds into the period when Casey Thrush backhanded a rebound into the net.

The Third period, however, was much different. Nebraska-Omaha scored a go-ahead goal off the stick of Ryan Walters to give them a 2-1 lead. That lead held until the 13:46 mark of the third, when it became the Matt Willows show. Matt Willows tied the game at two and then scored a go ahead goal 1:42 late. Nick Sorkin put the game away moments later on the power-play. Willows completed the hat trick with an empty netter, which he accomplished in 4:30. The win completed the sweep for UNH and improves its record 12-10-1 on the season, while Nebraska-Omaha falls to 8-9-1. (more…)

Lowell, MASS – The River Hawks and Golden Knights have seen each other a lot in recent weeks, as the two non-conference opponents squared off for the third consecutive game, for both teams. The teams played to a 1-1 draw of Friday night at the Tsongas Center, but on this night the first period saw more goals than the previous night. Clarkson came out flying early in the first and racked up as it found the net twice in the first five minutes of the contest. A.J. Fossen opened up the scoring at three minutes, 11 seconds of the first as Aj. Fossen scored into a wide open net after a rebound. Clarkson followed that up two minutes later, when Matt Zarbo found a puck right in front of UML goaltender, Doug Carr, giving his team a 2-0 lead. Scott Wilson scored on a net drive at 9:45 of the period to bring the River Hawks within a goal but the scoring was done, and the teams went into the first intermission with Clarkson leading, 2-1.

Clarkson continued to control the possession in the second period, but Lowell had the upper-hand on goal scoring. Lowell scored the first two of the second period off the stick’s of Ryan McGrath and Chris Maniccia, while Clarkson got a goal from Sam Labreqcue to send the teams into the second intermission tied at three. Lowell got a go-ahead goal at 9:55 of the third period when Joe Pendenza tipped a puck from out of nowhere giving the River Hawks the 4-3 lead. The lead held for a final as the River Hawks defeated the Golden Knights 4-3. The win improved UML’s record to 14-5-1, while Clarkson’s record fell to 12-6-2. (more…)

Durham, NH- Nebraska Omaha played its first game in nearly a month and execution became its biggest enemy against New Hampshire. It was also without its head coach, Dean Blais, and defenseman Jaycob Megna who were both suspended for an exchange of improper benefits.

Nebraska-Omaha scored the first goal of the night, as Josh Archibald received a pass from Ian Brady all alone in the slot at three minutes, 34 seconds of the first period to beat UNH goaltender Casey Desmith. UNH responded six minutes later on the power-play, when Eric Knodel blasted a shot from the point. Knodel added another power-play goal with 32 seconds remaining to give UNH a 2-1 first intermission lead.

The second period was owned by the Wildcats, but UNO scored first in the period when Austin Ortega made an individual drive down the right slot and wristed a shot off the cross-bar, down into the net to tie the game at one. It was a false sense of a close game, as UNH would dominate the rest of period. Matt Willows gave UNH the lead for good at 12:18 when he found a puck sent towards the net by Kevin Goumas and put it behind Maverick goaltender, Ryan Massa. Dan Correale and Casey Thrush added goals late in the third period to give the Wildcats a commanding 5-2 lead heading into the third period.

Nebraska-Omaha and New Hampshire traded goals in the third period. Josh Archibald added his second of the night on a breakaway and Kevin Goumas scored a break-away, empty net goal, as UNH defeated UNO 6-3 in front of 2987 at the Whittemore Center.  Josh Archibald and Eric Knodel scored two on the night, while UNH’s Trevor van Riemsdyk added a trio of assists.The win improves UNH’s record to 11-10-1 on the season, while dropping UNO’s record back to .500 at 8-8-1.  (more…)

Hanover, NH. – Northeastern and Dartmouth decided to play a shootout on Monday night, as the teams combined for a remarkable 16 goals on the evening. Dartmouth came out flying early in the first period against the Huskies, as it took an early lead when Jesse Beamish found a loose puck in front of Northeastern goaltender, Derick Roy and bat it five-hole scoring his first of the season. NU would respond just two minutes later when Mike Szmatula scored on the power-play to tie the game. Northeastern would follow that up with another when Colton Saucerman went in on a rush, sent the puck towards the net and it went in off a Dartmouth defender to give the Huskies its first lead. Dartmouth responded moments later, as Geoff Ferguson sent a backhander towards the net that went in off a Husky defender. Northeastern scored a late short-handed goal off the stick of John Stevens on a 2 on 0 rush. NU went into the first intermission leading 3-2.

The second period was much of the same as the first period, as it seemed defense was again optional. The Huskies scored the first in the period, as Josh Manson received a gift from a Dartmouth defender to beat Charles Grant, giving the Huskies the 4-2 lead.  But the wheels fell off, as Dartmouth scored the final four goals of the period in a span of six minutes. Charley Mosey and Eric Neiley scored even-strength goals, while Neiley and Hartley found the back of the net on the power-play. Dartmouth entered the third period leading 6-4.

Dartmouth scored the first two goals of the third period to take an 8-4 lead. Everyone thought the game was long over, but Northeastern came roaring back in the waning minutes of the third period. The Huskies scored two with an extra attacker, including the  game tying goal off the stick of Mike Szmatula which he scored off a rebound to tie the game at eight. The game went to overtime and neither team scored, as Northeastern and Dartmouth settled for an eight all tie. Northeastern’s record now sits at 10-6-3 and Dartmouth sits at a paltry 2-11-1 on their respective seasons. (more…)

We’re back. Well kind of.

With four Big Ten players (Michigan’s Andrew Copp, Minnesota’s Brady Skjei and Hudson Fasching, and Wisconsin’s Nic Kerdiles) and one head coach (Minnesota’s Don Lucia) in Sweden representing the red, white and blue, every team besides the Gophers began the second half this past weekend.

A few teams might be wishing for a do-over. Despite being the most experienced teams for the elements, Michigan and Michigan State combined for a single win outdoors at the GLI. That win was due to the Spartans shutting out Michigan in a game that is considered non-conference.

“We didn’t show anything this weekend,” Wolverines head coach Red Berenson, whose team also lost to Western Michigan in OT, said to the Michigan Daily after Saturday’s loss to MSU.

In other Big Ten play, Penn State defeated Robert Morris 3-2 before falling to Boston College by an 8-2 final. Wisconsin continued a monster 12 game homestand at the Kohl Center with a pair of wins against Alabama-Huntsville while Ohio State dominated Mercyhurst in a two-game sweep.

January is set up to a great month for Big Ten hockey. Before it happens, however, this seems like a good time to shake off the cobwebs and look back. This week’s 3 Things include being worried about Penn State, newcomer Christian Frey along with my first-half All-Big Ten team picks. (more…)