Dutchmen Details: 8-1 to 1-0 or 1.000%; Simpson 'Trickery

Coach Bennett's Favorite

• Not to be confused with Chicago's 25 to 6 or 4, the men's hockey team put up some crooked numbers of their own, handily beating Army 8-1 on Saturday for their first win of the year. Ken Schott has video over at the Gazette.
• For the traditional box score, click here. ECAC.com's column is here. Ken's recap is here.
• Union notched an impressive 44 shots evenly spaced over three periods. Army only managed 18. Matt Hatch scored the first goal of the 2011-2012 campaign. Fellow sophomore Kevin Sullivan also found the scoresheet, along with freshman Max Novak (twice), and junior Greg Coburn. Kelly Zajac had three points (all assists in classic Zajac style), while Cole Ikkala also contributed a "2" under the "A" column.
  
• And, oh yeah, Wayne Simpson added an assist to his first career hat trick for an impressive four point game. Wayne earns "1989 and Still Waiting's" ECAC first star of the week with his performance. Dan has an interesting tidbit:

"This was the second season in a row that a Union p

layer scored a hat trick in the home opener (Josh Jooris did it last year in his first collegiate game)."

• The Dutchwomen, meanwhile, had a decisive 9-2 win against Sacred Heart, firing an astounding 75 shots on goal. 75. The Dutchwomen improve to 1-2 on the season with the win. UnionAthletics has a recap 0f the destruction dominance here.
• INCH (Inside College Hockey) posted its preseason predictions/ruminations on Saturday. Union receives the onus of having the most "Pressure To Perform." INCH's reasoning is one that we've heard repeated ad nauseum this preseason: that Union's goaltending will miss Keith Kinkaid.
• An editorial aside here: any media outlet (us included) has concluded that a key to Union's success will be the goaltending in place of the very capable Kinkaid and Milan. What seems to be missing in the onslaught of preseason predictions is the fact that Grosenick, Stevens, and Pieri are very good. By all indications, the goaltending will be a non-issue this year. But as players related to us on Media Day, the pollsters' opinions are relatively meaningless to them. The squad understands the volatility of the ECAC in recent years and is committed--just like the 11 other teams--to winning the Cleary Cup. But we digress...
• On Saturday, the Times Union ran an interview with Coach Bennett. Now you know: he's a Dallas Cowboys fan, while his favorite Clint Eastwood movie is "Hang 'Em High."
• The fantastic RPI blog "Without A Peer" has an interesting piece on potential divisional realignment and its impact on college hockey.
• And finally, so we have content for you tomorrow's Dutchmen Details we'll break down Keith Kinkaid's first game in net with the Albany Devils, a 4-2 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, tomorrow. We'll also talk about Corey Milan, now of the ECHL's Elmira Jackals (affiliate of the Ottawa Senators).
• Our Tweet of the Day goes to Brian Yanovitch. Any Anchorman reference is almost a guaranteed win for our TotD honor:

--ZP