The first weekend of conference action is in the books and if we didn’t know already Quinnipiac is really good. It didn’t take long for it to end up right at the top, as only it and Union closed the weekend with a max four points. It seemed only fitting that those two teams would end up at the top after a tough non-conference stretch as they were the regular season and tournament champions, respectively, last season.

I have been saying this for a few weeks now, but the ECAC is going to be a blast this season. Nearly every game was close over the weekend, minus the debacle that occurred for Dartmouth at home, as it lost by an aggregate 14-3 in two games. If one thing is for certain fans will see tons of up and down hockey in conference action this season.  There was tons of offense generated over the weekend and one should expect that to continue. Nonetheless there were some major trends over the weekend and here is what I think. Read the rest of this entry »

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Durham, NH – New Hampshire came out with a lot of fire and heavily outplayed its opponent, UMass-Lowell, for much of the first period.  In the first period UNH outshot the River Hawks 10-3 and the latter had an impressive 13 blocks in the first period. The second period, however, was a diferent story as UML came out and took it to UNH at times, especially late in the period.

UNH opened the scoring at ten minutes, 28 seconds of the second when Brett Pesce took a wrist shot from the point and it ended up behind Doug Carr. It was surprisingly Pesce’s first goal and point of the season. Lowell then took control of the period and found the back of the net twice within a minute and 45 seconds, as Joseph Pendenza scored his fourth of the season and Christian Folin backed it up to give Lowell the 2-1 second intermission lead.

Lowell stifled UNH in the final period but UNH would score a late power-play goal with 1:13 remaining in the game off the stick of Grayson Downing. It was the first of the season for the struggling forward. Derek Arnold would score an overtime goal at 3:17 of the period on the power-play to give Lowell the 3-2 win over UNH. The win was UML’s fourth consecutive victory improving its record to 5-3-0, 2-0-0 in Hockey East. UNH is winless in five games and drops its record to 1-5-1 on the season and 0-2-0 in Hockey East. Read the rest of this entry »

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New Haven, CT. –  It was a night of much pomp and circumstance, as Yale raised its National Championship banner based on last year’s accomplishments but tonight was a new night and the banner did little more than signify just that. Early in the first, the play was controlled territoriality and speed wise by St. Lawrence. The Saints took an early 1-0 lead at five minutes, 30 seconds of the first period when Woody Hudson brought it down the left wall, shot a puck toward the net and it chromed into the net off a defender. The Saints doubled its lead late in the first, as Greg Carey took a turnover into the slot, all alone, and wristed it past the Yale goaltender. Yale brought it to within one late in the first when Kenny Agostino took a shot from the high slot that Jesse Root tipped past Saints goaltender, Matt Weninger to send the teams into the first intermission 2-1.

The second period belonged to Yale, as it outscored its opponent 2-1 in the period. St. Lawrence would make it 3-1 early in the second, as Justin Baker scored a power-play goal. But Yale dominated the rest of the period sending 16 shots at the SLU net. Anthony Day would score at 8:37 of the second period to make it 3-2 and in the waning moments of the period, Rob O’Gara put one past Matt Weninger to tie it at three going into the third period.

The third period was an entertaining battle as Yale and SLU traded chances throughout the period but neither team was able to solve the other’s goaltender. The overtime was much of the same, as Yale and St. Lawrence would skate to the 3-3 tie at Ingalls rink. Yale goes to 1-1-1, 0-0-1 ECAC on the young season and SLU goes to 4-2-1, 0-0-1. Read the rest of this entry »

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Over the weekend, the Power Rankings seemed to take hold, as all ECAC teams were in action. The Ivies finally began their seasons over the weekend, with Cornell and Brown looking the most impressive. From Brown’s impressive weekend at the Liberty Invitational to Clarkson’s continued success to the rest of the happenings within the conference, teams made statements from top to bottom.

Last night Harvard and Rensselaer kicked off the conference schedule with a tie. The tie seemed fitting based on how it looks like the conference will play out this year; a battle.It has been an interesting first month for ECAC teams but the month has been a downright success for the teams. Only Dartmouth, Union and Colgate will leave October with sub-500 records, with Dartmouth’s only losses at the Liberty Invitational over the weekend. Those teams will make up the bottom three positions, only because wins matter in Power Rankings. Without further ado I suppose here is my weekly take on how the teams stack up. Read the rest of this entry »

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This past week for the Big Ten felt right. After week 1 having the positive vibes that comes with being welcomed back to school and week 2 bringing out the negative “oh crap I’m back in school” feeling, week 3 was just college hockey. There were highs. There were lows. In Michigan’s case, underclassmen scored all three goals – including a penalty shot by Alex Guptill against BU – in a weekend split against the Terriers and UMass-Lowell.

No one played incredible for all 120 minutes while no one was outclassed all weekend, either. It was regular season hockey complete with all the highs and lows.

(After the jump: Ohio State takes steps, Penn State learns a lesson, non-conference shootouts and a bonus thought about Friday’s Minnesota-Boston College game) Read the rest of this entry »

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It was a rough weekend in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.  Overall, NCHC teams went 4-7-1, with only a single sweep on the weekend.  Colorado College was swept in Clarkson, Cornell swept Nebraska Omaha at home, Denver beat Niagara and fell to Canisius, Minnesota Duluth split with Notre Dame, but hey – St. Cloud State swept Colgate, so we’re not complete losers!

UNO has a legitimate goaltending problem.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone by now, but this weekend not only highlighted the issue, but circled, bolded, and enhanced it.  On Friday night, Dean Blais gave freshman Kirk Thompson the nod to head between the pipes against Cornell, and it didn’t go so well.   Saturday night, junior Ryan Massa took to the net, which resulted in a similar, traumatic experience.  Thompson gave up 5 goals on 20 shots, while Massa let 4 goals slide by on 13 shots.  Combined, both goaltenders saw a total of 33 shots, giving up 9 goals.  This is a problem.

It’s hard to win hockey games when your forwards are more concerned about reducing opponent shots, rather than scoring goals.  Hell, I’d probably have a winger linger around the blue line, ready incase of a fast-break.  It’s a frustrating situation, especially when the Mavericks ARE getting shots on net.  They led the series in shots, 71-33!

Read the rest of this entry »

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Boston College may want to avoid anymore trips to Minnesota for a while. The Eagles have been embarrassed in two of their last three games at Mariucci. There’s no real shame in losing to the Gophers, and BC will, of course, be just fine moving forward. Some clear issues are there, just as there were a year ago. “Just fine” for BC means, the Eagles will still compete for championships, but it’s pretty clear they aren’t the type of favorite they’ve been recently.

Talent is everywhere on the Eagles’ roster. Aside from the clear best player in the country in Johnny Gaudreau, BC’s top six, defensive unit and goaltending corps each has as much talent as any. It hasn’t come together just yet, and the Eagles missed two huge chances to boost their Pairwise standing with losses at Michigan and to the Gophers.

BU should probably control the puck at some point

There are times when massive shot differences are a product of the score. There are times when massive shot differences are a product of gulfs in talent. Other times, well, it’s not quite clear what the reason is. For Boston University, it’s that third one. A 3-2-0 start isn’t the worst reality for the Terriers at this point, but there have been some troubling trends. Read the rest of this entry »

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What a weekend for ECAC teams last weekend and in all honesty we have come to expect it. This weekend will see the first week of conference games, as all 12 teams will begin its run at an ECAC regular season crown. We will also see the final banner night of the season, the most important one, as Yale will begin its home slate with a game against St. Lawrence. All in all we will see just how deep the ECAC conference is; it should prove to be a great weekend of games around the conference.

With a another great weekend of non-conference play a few more trends have taken hold within the conference. From the success I keep talking about to Brown’s success at the Liberty Invitational there are many things happening here are the three I deem most important this weekend:

ECAC is the early season king of conferences

Yes, I am a bit biased but the early season has been a downright success for ECAC teams in non-conference action and its success should be no surprise. On Saturday night, ECAC teams went 6-1-0 in non-conference action taking the world by storm. Within those six wins were three wins over arguably the top two conferences in the country Hockey East and the NCHC; the ones that often call the ECAC four different letters (which won’t be mentioned). We all cringe when we hear it but we should all just quietly laugh the next time we hear it said, as what matters is what happens on the ice and the teams have done nothing but impress. Read the rest of this entry »

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DULUTH – Notre Dame came into the weekend as #2 in the nation, and while they took the first game of the series 3-2 Friday night, the Bulldogs showed everyone they can play with the best of them in Saturday’s match up.

Minnesota Duluth started strong off the hop, outshooting the Irish 14-3 in the first period, a period that included three goals in less than four minutes for UMD. Kyle Osterberg added a fourth goal in the second period to give his team a decisive 4-0 lead through much of the third period. Notre Dame’s Austin Wuthrich scored a power play goal, ending UMD goaltender Aaron Crandall’s chance at a shut out.

What I Saw

UMD faced a freshman netminder in Notre Dame’s Chad Katunar, who saw his first NCAA action the previous night after senior starter Steven Summerhays’s ejection from the game. Peppering the rookie goalie was key to UMD’s victory, with multiple goals coming off of rebounds and redirections.

Notre Dame needed be more disciplined tonight, not only as far as penalties go, but also with regards to their mental game. UMD’s quick three goal lead shut Notre Dame down until late in the third period, allowing the Bulldogs to keep momentum through the majority of the match up.

Notre Dame’s slow start and the Minnesota Duluth’s much improved game were key in the result of this second match up between the teams. While the ND added a late tally on the power play, that last ditch effort was not enough to make a difference.

What I Thought

The key to the UMD’s win was playing more like the team they were in Friday’s third period than the one who started that bout. The momentum from that first game carried over into Saturday as evidenced by the quick start and dominance throughout the game.

Starting rookie Katunar in net was a poor decision on the part of Notre Dame. While two of the goals were second (or fifth) shot rebounds, the play of Summerhays as he took over in the third period was much more composed than that of his freshman counterpart. While the play of Notre Dame in general was weak, Katunar allowing three goals so quickly also points to a lack of resiliency and mental toughness.

The Bulldogs have now proved that they can play with the best of the best.  With Aaron Crandall starting his third game of the season and back up Matt McNeely having played strong in his starts as well, the UMD goalie tandem is a major strength. The penalty kill has been a key for UMD’s recent successes and while the power play needs work, there is plenty for the Bulldogs to build off and have proven they are one of the elite teams in the NCAA.

What They Said

Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said,

“It was a good challenging weekend for us, and that’s what we expected. We knew it was going to be a tough series.”

“Tonight we didn’t have a good start, and that was the difference in the game.”

Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said,

“We talk about playing the game the right way. Tonight and this weekend against a really good team we saw more of that. We all want to win, no one wants to lose. But the most important thing is playing the game the right way to give yourself a chance. We did that tonight.”

What Else You Should Know

UMD has only allowed 3 goals on 40 penalty kills (92.5%) so far this season. Even without the services of PK specialist Justin Crandall, who sat out with an injury, UMD was still able to kill off 6 of 7 Fighting Irish attempts.

Notre Dame’s undefeated start came to end, but the five wins will stand as the best start under coach Jeff Jackson.

Minnesota Duluth’s scoring outburst included first goals on the season for Caleb Herbert and Dominic Toninato.

Notre Dame’s seven powerplay attempts tonight push their season total to 53 in just six games.

– By  Nicole Brodzik

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Hamden, Conn. – Quinnipiac earned its sixth-straight win Saturday afternoon at the TD Bank Sports Center, defeating Holy Cross 4-1 while also sweeping the home-and-home series. Sam Anas recorded two goals, while Bryce Van Brabant and Travis St. Denis tallied a score each. Mike Barrett recorded the lone goal for Holy Cross. Quinnipiac outshot Holy Cross 49-18 on the day, also converting on two of its six power plays.

What I saw:

– Quinnipiac had some trouble finishing its chances in the first period. The Bobcats played with plenty of speed, blowing past Holy Cross defenders in the offensive zone, but shots and passes kept getting broken up.

– Anas notched two more goals, bringing his season total to six with four coming in the past three games. Though one was a combination of a poor angle and an unlucky bounce, Anas had additional chances throughout the night, including a breakaway and a shot off the pipe. With Peter Quenneville out of the Bobcats lineup, Anas played on the first line with Connor and Kellen Jones to great success.

What I thought:

– Holy Cross held the tempo at times in the first period, especially when it scored its only goal, but never regrouped after Quinnipiac tied it.

– The Bobcats began to overpower the Crusaders in the second period, and it continued for the rest of the game. Quinnipiac held Holy Cross to just four shots on goal, also notching eight grade-a chances compared to the Crusaders’ zero in the stanza.

– Kellen Jones was tripped up on a breakaway and wasn’t given a penalty shot for some bizarre reason. Strange non-call, yet Quinnipiac ended up scoring on that power play anyway. Fortunately it wasn’t a huge difference maker.

What they said:

“They wore us down,” Holy Cross head coach Paul Pearl said. “We’re playing a lot of the same guys a ton of minutes. They play a good, thorough game. Their physicality and their speed wore us down.”

“Very happy with our effort tonight,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “Now our ECAC season starts. I like how we’re playing. We need to be healthy, hopefully we’ll get Quenneville back next weekend.”

“We’ve had a good mindset coming into these games, and it’s not gonna change,” Anas said. “We play our game, compete hard. We’re playing well.”

What else you need to know:

– Holy Cross opens up conference play on Nov. 1 when it hosts Sacred Heart.

– Quinnipiac starts league play on Nov. 1 when it travels to Colgate.

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