College Hockey Thread

[mabrowndog]

Switch Wisconsin and St. Cloud State. 

 
Good catch. Thanks.
 

So I noticed in your predictions you have Providence in there. Last night UConn beat PC at PC. Does this mean UConn might not be a total doormat next year when they enter Hockey East play?

 

UConn's goalie made 58 saves. The Huskies probably aren't going to win many Hockey East games right away.

 
They're inconsistent for sure. One night they're getting shut out at home by Sacred Heart (3-0), the next they're beating UMass (2-1). One night they kick the crap out of Robert Morris (5-1), the next the Colonials return the favor (6-1). They beat Bentley 3-0 last Friday, lost to them 4-1 Saturday, then upset PC last night.
 
Bear in mind that UConn is the only non-military D-I school that doesn't currently offer any men's hockey scholarships, a policy imposed to achieve Title IX compliance. This despite the AHA having a maximum of 12 per school (it's now 13, and will jump to 14 for the 2015-16 season). All other D-I men's hockey conferences including Hockey East allow 18 scholarships per school. UConn is now in the process of awarding some (but not all) of those 18 for the 2014-15 academic year (while adding a commensurate number in women's sports for balance; UConn's women's team is already in HE and already issues a full complement of scholarships). So the Huskies are going to be at a huge talent deficit compared to their HE rivals for quite some time. Their first scholarship seniors won't be skating until 2017-18.

 

[Philip Jeff Frye]

The Ivy League schools in the ECAC do not offer athletic scholarships.  I believe Union doesn't either.

 

[mabrowndog]

The Ivy League schools in the ECAC do not offer athletic scholarships.  I believe Union doesn't either.

 
Oh, for fuck's sake. Major brain fart on my end.
 
I really hate feeling as stupid as Tony Mazz or Skip Bayless.

 

[ForceAtHome]

The Ivy League schools in the ECAC do not offer athletic scholarships.  I believe Union doesn't either.

 
Correct. The six hockey playing Ivies, Army/Air Force, Union, and also RIT do not offer hockey scholarships. What Union has done the past few years starting with Leaman and continuing with Bennett is pretty remarkable.

 

[jsinger121]

 
Correct. The six hockey playing Ivies, Army/Air Force, Union, and also RIT do not offer hockey scholarships. What Union has done the past few years starting with Leaman and continuing with Bennett is pretty remarkable.

 
Agreed. To have reach the Frozen Four 2 years ago along with 3 straight NCAA tournament appearances with a 4th coming this year is beyond remarkable. No scholarships and they also don't have one of the better facilities in the ECAC. 

 

[RedOctober3829]

The only place to see the BC vs. Vermont games this weekend is NSN Sports.  There is no TV coverage of the series besides on NSN.
 
The website is http://www.nsnsports.net

 

[sachmoney]

BTN has a double header tonight. Michigan State at Penn State at 6:30 then Michigan at Minnesota at 9. I'm expecting to cry myself to sleep tonight.

 

[RedOctober3829]

BC is up 2-1 in the 2nd. BC going on their 3rd PP of the period only 4:45 in. Gaudreau sniped a PPG :30 into the 2nd to take the lead

 

[RedOctober3829]

UVM killed it off then Santini slashed a UVM player so the Cats are on the PP. Not many opportunities and BC kills it off. 9 min left.

 

[RedOctober3829]

UVM back on the PP on an Adam Gilmore interference call. 8:27 to go. Cats need to cash in

Another BC penalty. 5 on 3 for 1:00

BC kills both. Now I know why their pk is so good

 

[RedOctober3829]

3-1 BC as they scored with 10 seconds left on a deflection. That has to hurt. Goals in the first and last minutes of the 2nd.

 

[Philip Jeff Frye]

Quinnipiac up 3-0 on Yale after 2. Pretty even, exciting first period, but then Yale shit the bed in the second, giving up 2 goals off of a couple of the worst turnovers you'll ever see, and barely able to cross the blue line on our power play. Oh well, at least we still have Pittsburgh.

Pretty classy of Quinnipiac to cheap shot our goalie, by the way.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Uvm scored 2 min into the 3rd and BC scored 23 seconds later to take a 4-2 lead

 

[sachmoney]

BTN has a double header tonight. Michigan State at Penn State at 6:30 then Michigan at Minnesota at 9. I'm expecting to cry myself to sleep tonight.

Michigan down 1-0 early.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Uvm scores a late goal, but BC hung on for a 4-3 win. Things got testy after the final gun.

 

[sachmoney]

1-0 after 1. Wolverines took 3 penalties and are lucky to be down only 1.

 

[mabrowndog]

UMass-Lowell surrenders a 2-0 3rd period lead to UMass, but the River Hawks win it with just 0.2 seconds left in the game. Holy shit.

 

[mabrowndog]

From Dec 30 (when they beat UMass) to Jan 31 (when they won at Air Force), UConn went 7-1-2. That loss was a shutout by Sacred Heart. Last weekend they split with Bentley before shocking Providence on Tuesday.
 
Tonight they get taken to the wood shed at home by a 9-17-3 Holy Cross team, 3-0. The Huskies have now lost 3 of their last 5.
 
As I said upthread, schizophrenic and inconsistent.

 

[mabrowndog]

* Gophers up 4-2 after two. 
 
* Ohio State gets a huge 2-1 win over Wisconsin, and for the time being it vaults them up to a tie for 17th in the PWR (with Notre Dame).  An OSU tournament berth would be pretty major for the Cincinnati regional.
 
* Union with an impressive 4-1 win at Cornell.
 
* Maine (2-1) & UNH (4-3) get wins over Merrimack & BU, neither of which will make them much headway in the PWR. Ditto for PC and the Irish, who skate to a 2-2 tie at the Dunk.
 
* Harvard beats Clarkson 1-0 in overtime in Potsdam. Which is awesome because fuck Clarkson.

 

[mabrowndog]

Zach Hyman brought Blue to within 4-3 early in the 3rd, but Gabe Guertler just lit the lamp for Minnesota with 4:39 to play.

 

[mabrowndog]

After trailing 3-0 midway through the game, Western Michigan (20th in PWR) scored 1:15 into the 3rd to tie up Colorado College 3-3 out in CO Springs. Critical series for the Broncs, as any losses to the 52-ranked Tigers would be devastating to their PWR, and to their seeding for the NCHC tournament. They came into the night just 2 points out of 2nd place and 4 behind 1st (St. Cloud), but tied for 5th with Denver.
 
EDIT - Broncos took the lead 4-3 at the 5:46 mark, but the Tigers just answered less than a minute and a half later. 
 
EDIT - On to overtime. After CC tied the game, WMU outshot the Tigers 12-1 until the final 30 seconds, when CC launched a 3-shot final barrage.
 
EDIT - Yikes. CC's Cody Bradley goes off for elbowing midway through OT. But there's no power play, as WMU's Dennis Brown picks 2 for embellishment.
 
EDIT - On to the shootout. Justin Kovacs scores on WMU's first shot. Lukas Hafner stops all three CC tries. The Broncos escape.

 

[ForceAtHome]

Another ECAC team having a nice little run under the radar is Brown right now. They're still a modest 6-6-2 on the year, but finished 2013 with wins against lowly Harvard and Dartmouth. They carried that momentum forward into 2014 with a tie at #16 Denver and a win at Colorado College tonight. Their next game, in a week, will be a real measuring stick game as it's against Boston College. Brown is a team that entered the year much like last year -- a hard working team with total uncertainty in net. They took off in the second half of 2013, falling just short of a tournament berth in the ECAC title game. The Bears will hope to find another groove in early 2014. With not only BC left on the schedule, but also home-and-homes with Union and Yale, and games against Quinnipiac and Cornell, Brown could play their way into tournament discussion or finish with single digit wins. Either is plausible.

 
Brown opened 2014 with a stretch where they went 5-1-2, including ties against BC and @Denver. Their only loss came @Clarkson while they beat Yale and had multiple road wins. Overall, a fantastic streak for the Bears.
 
Since then, Brown has now lost 5 of their last 6, including a 6-0 embarrassment at Yale and 3-2 home loss to Princeton -- the worst team in the league. They played Cornell and Union to 1 goal games, which aren't bad results, but it obviously wasn't enough.
 
They have 5 games left on the schedule, including a likely loss to Quinnipiac this afternoon. I wouldn't pick them over Union or RPI at this point, either. That leaves just @Harvard and @Dartmouth. With the way things are trending, Harvard is probably the favored team in that game, too. Brown is sitting on 9 wins, making it entirely possible they just went from a fringe/bubble team to a single digit win team in three weeks.
 
Brown still tends to play well against difficult teams and play down to poor competition. I don't think they're a team you'd be excited to face in the ECAC tournament, but I'm not holding my breath for them anymore.

 

[Spaulding Smails]

Welp, Brown takes down Quinnipiac, 4-2. Hard team to figure, they can beat/lose to any team at any time.

 

[mabrowndog]

BU-UNH postponed until Monday at 4 pm.

 

[ForceAtHome]

Welp, Brown takes down Quinnipiac, 4-2. Hard team to figure, they can beat/lose to any team at any time.

 
And we have double digit wins! Brown truly lives up to the aforementioned "tends to play well against difficult teams and play down to poor competition."
 
I didn't realize Pfeil was playing tonight. He's a huge addition back to the lineup. He last played at the end of their 5-1-2 stretch and missed the entirety of the 5 losses in 6 games lately. The Bears are 8-5-2 with Pfeil in the lineup and 2-7-1 without him. It's not that he's a major stud, though he's very solid. It's just that they have very limited depth on defense and have even played games with just five blueliners suited up recently.
 
Marco del Filippo got the nod this afternoon. For the time being, I suspect the job is his again over freshman Tyler Steel.

 

[mabrowndog]

Wisconsin-Ohio State part deux will be on NBCSN tonight (8 pm EST).

 

[mabrowndog]

Welp, Brown takes down Quinnipiac, 4-2.

 
The silver lining for QU fans is Union's trailing Colgate 4-2 midway through the 2nd.
 
Plus Clarkson's losing as well, 4-0, to Dartmouth (5-16-3) with 4:00 left in the 2nd. Which is awesome because (all together now) fuck Clarkson.
 
And Princeton just drew to within 4-3 of Yale (1:31 left P2)
 
EDIT - Make that 4-3 Colgate (5:40 left P2)

 

[RedOctober3829]

BC is up 4-1 in the 2nd up in Burlington.

 

[mabrowndog]

Princeton with 2 goals in a minute to draw within 6-5 of Yale with 4:42 left.

 

[mabrowndog]

Northeastern was up 5-1 on UMass, but 3 straight by the Minutemen -- including 2 shorthanded -- make it a 5-4 game with 4:45 left.

 

[mabrowndog]

Union just tied up Colgate 4-4 with 4:49 left.

 

[mabrowndog]

Princeton with 2 goals in a minute to draw within 6-5 of Yale with 4:42 left.

 
Kenny Agostino seals it for Yale with a shorthanded goal at 18:29. It's his second of the night.

 

[mabrowndog]

Northeastern was up 5-1 on UMass, but 3 straight by the Minutemen -- including 2 shorthanded -- make it a 5-4 game with 4:45 left.

 
Huskies hold on for the 5-4 win.

 

[mabrowndog]

Nice win for RPI over Cornell, 3-1. They were tied for 25th in RPI coming in, so this ought to bump them up a few notches.

 

[mabrowndog]

* Brutal loss for Providence at home, 3-0 to Notre Dame. They'll swap spots in the projected playoff field.
 
* Bemidji (tied for 44th with Merrimack) trying to pull the upset over #3(t) Ferris, leading 2-1 late in the 2nd. 
 
* Merrimack just tied up Maine 2-2 in Orono with 4:15 left. Fuck...

 

[mabrowndog]

* Badgers getting some revenge on OSU, up 2-1 late in the 2nd. 
 
* Gophers looking for the sweep of Michigan, leading 3-1 after 2.

 

[mabrowndog]

* Bemidji (tied for 44th with Merrimack) trying to pull the upset over #3(t) Ferris, leading 2-1 late in the 2nd. 
 
* Merrimack just tied up Maine 2-2 in Orono with 4:15 left. Fuck...

 
Devin Shore lights the lamp with 28 seconds left to give Maine the 3-2 win and the sweep of the Warriors. Outstanding.
 
Bemidji still up 2-1 with 40 ticks left ... and it's all over. Huge win for the Beavers.
 

* Badgers getting some revenge on OSU, up 2-1 late in the 2nd. 
 
* Gophers looking for the sweep of Michigan, leading 3-1 after 2.

 
Minnesota polishes off the Wolverines 4-1.
 
The Buckeyes have drawn within 3-2 of Wisconsin, and they just pulled the goalie with 90 seconds left... But it's not enough. The Badgers get an empty netter with 0.8 seconds left, and they split the series.

 

[sachmoney]

Not a good weekend for the Wolverines. I remember watching early in the season when Michigan played UNH. They took bad angles, they allowed transition. It was a very back and forth game up in Durham. They played BU a few weeks later and besides BU sucking majorly this year, Michigan took all of the right angles, provided support, really had a great possession game and pinned BU back to the tune of SOG being 45-19 or something around that. Minnesota this weekend was a digression back to UNH. I don't know if it was the open ice or what, but it was embarrassing. Minnesota is a much better team than UNH. Sorry, that doesn't do it justice. They're a much much much better team than UNH. They're fast and they're skilled and they're excellent at making you pay for your mistakes. Michigan made too many mistakes this weekend and Minnesota made 'em pay. 
 
Hudson Fasching had two goals this weekend. He's a terrific player. You've got to wonder how many years he'll stay at Minnesota or whether the Kings will try to bring him up. He's a player I could see stepping up and winning the Hobey next year since Gaudreau is going to run away with it this year.

 

[mabrowndog]

* Host #6 St. Cloud and #13 Minn-Duluth were locked in a 3-3 battle after a pair of Bulldog goals knotted things up, but Jonny Brodzinski scored for the Huskies with 1:49 to play, and they get the home win.
 
* Western Michigan really needs a regulation road W over Colorado College, but they're scoreless through 2.
 
EDIT - Charlie Taft gets the Tigers on the board just 21 seconds into the 3rd with an assist from Luc Gerdes. Three minutes later they swapped roles (Gerdes from Taft) and CC leads 2-0 with 7:51 left. They've out-shot the Broncos 28-13. 

 

[jsinger121]

We stink playing at Meehan rink. The place is like a morgue.

 

[JShams]

We stink playing at Meehan rink. The place is like a morgue.

The place is like a morgue because that's the way the administration wants it. They've pretty much driven away all the loyal fans over the last 20 years by putting no resources into the program and they're working on the last few holdouts this year. I was at the Princeton debacle Friday night in my typical spot and as usual the ECAC officiating was ...subpar. I along with some other loyal fans were giving the officials some choice criticism (nothing close to profane or vulgar) but along the lines "how are you still employed?" Or "I want your job security". And as any ECAC fan knows, when chip McDonald is on the ice, these are legitimate questions.

Well within seconds we were informed by a Brown police officer that if we did not relent we would be ejected from the building. We asked by who and the name of someone in the Brown administration was mentioned.

Essentially Brown's administration is only concerned with making sure everyone pays their $10 (no discounts for kids), making sure everyone is quiet for two hours and goes home. Whether the team wins or loses, or the fans have fun is not important. As long as the status quo remains and they keep their jobs, they really don't care what happens on the ice. They work to make sure they stay employed. Not to do the job well, or make brown a better place. They're terrified at the prospect of something happening where they lose their cushy gigs and actually have to apply for a job elsewhere with absolutely nothing to show for their extended tenures at the university.

It's a sad state of affairs, but completely unsurprising for a place like Brown.

 

[mabrowndog]

Despite a 3-1 win over BU yesterday in their postponed game, UNH remains outside the projected NCAA field. The likely bracket if seeded today:
 
Worcester - BC, MA-Lowell, North Dakota, Mercyhurst
Bridgeport - Union, Quinnipiac, Northeastern, Vermont
Cincinnati - St. Cloud, Ferris, Michigan, Notre Dame
St. Paul - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine, Cornell
 
Even without any Ohio schools, the Cinci regional looks like it wouldn't be a total disaster attendance-wise. South Bend & Ann Arbor are less than 4 hours away, while Big Rapids (Ferris) is a 6-hour drive.

 

[jsinger121]

Despite a 3-1 win over BU yesterday in their postponed game, UNH remains outside the projected NCAA field. The likely bracket if seeded today:
 
Worcester - BC, MA-Lowell, North Dakota, Mercyhurst
Bridgeport - Union, Quinnipiac, Northeastern, Vermont
Cincinnati - St. Cloud, Ferris, Michigan, Notre Dame
St. Paul - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine, Cornell
 
Even without any Ohio schools, the Cinci regional looks like it wouldn't be a total disaster attendance-wise. South Bend & Ann Arbor are less than 4 hours away, while Big Rapids (Ferris) is a 6-hour drive.

 
 
I think Michigan and Notre Dame fans would travel decently and likely carry the Cincinnati region. 

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

 
 
I think Michigan and Notre Dame fans would travel decently and likely carry the Cincinnati region. 

 
They will, but Cincinnati was banking on Miami being there considering they are the host school and campus is about 45 minutes from US Bank Arena.  Pre-season #2, pre-season favorites to win the NCHC, and they were #1 right before they got into the conference schedule...they've just fallen apart since (2-8 since the winter break).  Only way they're getting into the NCAA tournament is to win the NCHC tournament.

 

[Laser Show]

Big weekend at Matthews Arena. Maine and Northeastern essentially playing for a bye, home ice, and an NCAA berth.

Maine forward Ryan Lomberg will miss Friday's game, after being suspended for an elbowing incident vs. Merrimack. On the Huskies' side... it could be rough. Their two best defensemen in Josh Manson and B's prospect Matt Benning both left last week's game in Amherst with injuries and their status is unknown. I was not there, but I was told Benning's was not pretty, and that he had to be helped off the ice.

Best of luck to your Black Bears mabrowndog. As long as UNH doesn't get home ice, right?

 

[LoweTek]

Dog, or one of you guys who follows HE closely, I'm a UML alum, 1000 years ago used to be the hockey radio PBP guy there and a 7th or so on the depth chart goalie (read: summer target practice victim). Can I get a short version of what has changed there to put them back in the national picture? Coaching? Recruiting? Something else?

 

[Laser Show]

LoweTek - I've only been following Hockey East closely since I came to college in fall 2011, so Dog might be able to answer this question better than I can.

But from what I've seen, it's been mostly head coach Norm Bazin and what he gets out of his guys. I mean just as a quick example: they lose Ruhewedel and Wilson has a below average year, but they're right at the top of HE again and one of the best teams in the nation. The depth and the execution, especially on defense, is remarkable. When I watch a Lowell game, I don't feel like there's anyone specific to watch out for - they all play good hockey.

I think it also helps that their administration is investing more in athletics, with other sports making the jump to D1.

 

[mabrowndog]

It's been an interesting road since they won 3 NCAA D-II championships in 4 years from '79 thru '82. I assume you're already versed on their move up to D-I a couple years later, joining HE the season after that, the retirement of legendary coach Billy Riley Jr. in the early 90s, the successful run of Bruce Crowder before he was hired away by Northeastern after just 5 seasons, the up-and-down tenure of Tim Whitehead (also 5 years), and the decade of mostly "Malaise under Blaise" MacDonald.
 
To be fair to MacDonald, the 2009-10 team was pretty solid, going 19-16-4 and taking Maine to OT of the rubber game in their 1st round HE series. But they lost 15 players from that squad, and the following year was a complete disaster at 5-25-4. Way too much youth and no on-ice leadership.
 
As Laser notes, hiring Bazin (a UM-L alum and an assistant there from '96-'00 under Whitehead) away from Hamilton was huge and paid immediate dividends with the biggest turnaround by a first-year D-I coach in NCAA history. He and his assistants are diligent recruiters who nabbed four key players from the largely-unmined North American Hockey League junior circuit. Along with wingers A.J. White & Adam Chapie and defenseman Christian Folin came goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who's been stellar in net. It was Cam Ellsbury, their goaltending coach, who made the trip to Odessa, Texas to scout him and signed him right then and there.
 
Bazin's also a survivor, having nearly been killed by a drunk driver in a 2003 head-on crash. This NY Times piece speaks volumes on his coaching style:
 

 
“I’m very fortunate to be alive,” said Bazin, 41. “I’m very fortunate to have this opportunity to coach. But around the hockey rink, I don’t talk about the accident. The young men on our team play for each other and to bring glory to our program and university. This has never been about me.”
 
Riley Wetmore, the River Hawks’ captain, said he learned about Bazin’s accident only recently; someone told him it was mentioned on the news.
 
“Until then, most of us didn’t have any idea what Coach had been through,” Wetmore said.
 
Asked if the accident affected his coaching ability or his quality of life, Bazin said, “There’s nothing worth discussing.”
 
He added, “I never have a bad day.”

 
More on the program's resurgence:
 

“I would not have predicted this success so quickly,” said UMass-Lowell Athletic Director Dana Skinner, who hired Bazin. “We thought Norm was the best candidate, and he would restore enthusiasm among the players and re-engage the rest of the school in the hockey program. But this many wins and an N.C.A.A. tournament bid in his first year? Beyond our wildest expectations.”
 
Men’s hockey [was] UMass-Lowell’s only Division I sport, and the program was in danger of folding as recently as four years ago, Skinner said. But Chancellor Marty Meehan fought to keep the program and started investing money in an attempt to become competitive with traditional powers in Hockey East like Boston College, Boston University and Maine.
 
“Instead of scrapping it, I thought it was time to make hockey a priority,” Meehan said. “But we needed results soon.”
 
The university purchased the 6,500-seat Tsongas Center, which was losing more than $1 million a year, and turned it into the home of UMass-Lowell hockey. This season, the university-run arena turned a profit. A new video scoreboard was purchased, at a cost of $1.3 million.
 
“Norm turning around our program has done wonders for the arena venture and our school,” Meehan said.
 
He credited the rejuvenated hockey team for the 25 percent increase in applications for enrollment.

 
 

 

[Haunted]

I graduated from UML in 2001, so I saw some pretty lean years there.  I remember games where there were -maybe- 500 people in the arena.
 
Watching them play in the Frozen Four last year was absolutely amazing.  I honestly never thought the team would be able to compete with Hockey East's "big four".

 

[FelixMantilla]

Only three teenagers on this year's team. That's how teams can compete with the "hockey elites." And it's not just UML doing it.
 
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0029672014.html