Dutchmen Details: TV Coverage? Fuhgeddaboudit.

• Union moves up to #6 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today polls. 
• Union remains at #2 in the INCH rankings, sandwiched between #1 Boston College and #3 Minnesota. INCH has this to say about the Dutchmen:

After suffering a first-round upset as the top seed in the quarterfinal round last year, the Dutchmen left little doubt this time around. Union trailed for less than six minutes the entire weekend and swept RPI.

Senior Molly Kate Devin

• The Dutchwomen visited Van Corlaer Elementary school, where they answered questions from students about the rigors of being student-athletes before playing a game of floor hockey. What I'd like to know: can Union install intramural floor hockey? I hear Kate Gallagher has some garnet and white Mylec floor hockey pads just in case...
• In case you missed it, Andy Stinchfield (of club hockey notoriety) published a piece in the Concordiensis about the Dutchwomen. 
• With a dearth of deals at the NHL trade deadline, a college free agent could be a nice boost for a team looking to add a good player at the right time. Or to build for the future. NHL.com has a list of NCAA free agents who might have those in the pro ranks salivating. Kelly Zajac and Troy Grosenick make the list. Brian O'Neill of Yale is the only other ECACer on the list. Don't be surprised if Jeremy Welsh gets some serious looks, either. We'll touch more on this later in the week.
• As always, the Official Blog of Union Hockey has some pertinent information and interesting stats.
• Vote on the Times Union's poll on where Union will end up Atlantic City. Too bad "teach Sam Coatta to count cards" isn't an option.



This photo comes up when you search "Grosenick," for some reason. 

• Don't expect Coach Bennett's squad to coast into Atlantic City, especially given the volatile nature of the NCAA selection process. From USCHO's ECAC Blog:

...This is to say that there are scenarios out there (play with them yourself!) that have the Dutchmen and Big Red on the wrong side of the bubble, should either fail to win the Whitelaw Cup. That may seem remarkable given Union’s current status as D-I’s sixth-ranked team in the PWR, but such is the case. 

Not surprisingly, Harvard and Colgate – each ranking in the low 20′s – will probably need to win the title in order to gain entry to the national tourney.

• Troy Grosenick was named a finalist for the ECAC Goaltender of the Year Award, aptly named after Ken Dryden. Last year, Keith Kinkaid won the Ken Dryden award. Let's compare their stats:
• Kinkaid (2010-2011) 38 GP; 3 SO; 1.99 GAA; .920 SV%
• Grosenick (2011-2012) 29 GP; 2 SO; 1.66 GAA; .936 SV%
• The major discrepancy here is the games played--if Troy had not missed time due to a nagging lower body injury, those numbers would most likely be more even. Now, let's take a look at the other goalies nominated for this year's Dryden Award, Cornell's Andy Iles and Clarkson's Paul Karpowich:
• Iles: 31 GP; 2 SO; 2.08 GAA; .920 SV%
• Karpowich: 37 GP; 5 SO; 2.46 GAA; .921 SV%
• It turns out that the ECAC championships will not be covered on network TV--the only such league championship series that is being left off the air. At the very least, fans of the four teams can kvetch together. 
• But it looks like RPI's TV station will be there. You'll have to pay to watch, but you probably would have had to do that anyway. Kudos to those Rensselaer-ians for keeping everyone in the loop. Stay tuned (pun intended) for more news on this.

Around the NCAA

• We haven't mentioned it here yet, but best of luck to Joe Marsh, who recently retired from his post as St. Lawrence head coach. Marsh's 26 year stint as head coach is impressive enough, but he was one of the true gentleman of the game. Best of luck to him in retirement and to St. Lawrence in the future. It will be strange to see the Saints come to town without him behind the bench.
• Minnesota-Duluth, reigning champs, purveyors of bleach blond hair and victors over Union in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year, get some press in the New York Times.
• If you haven't already, be sure to check out the work of Luke Devoe over at From The NIP to the Bank, the excellent Quinnipiac Blog. While you're at it, follow the equally excellent RPI blog, Without a Peer. While we're at it, keep the page hits coming for Dan's brilliant ECAC blog.