ECAC Hockey Power Rankings (and playoff schedule)

by Ryan Fay

Before we get to the power rankings, here is a look at the ECAC playoff schedule:

FIRST-ROUND (Friday, Mar. 8 - Sunday, Mar. 10 - Best-of-three games - campus sites)
No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton

Quinnipiac, Rensselaer, Yale, and Union have first round byes.

QUARTERFINALS (Friday, Mar. 15 - Sunday, Mar. 17 - Best-of-three games - campus sites)
Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Quinnipiac
Second lowest remaining seed at No. 2 Rensselaer
Third lowest remaining seed at No. 3 Yale
Fourth lowest remaining seed at No. 4 Union

SEMIFINALS (Friday, Mar. 22 - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey)
Semifinal No. 1 - 4 p.m

Semifinal No. 2 - 7:30 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP/THIRD PLACE (Saturday, Mar. 23 - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey)
Third-Place Game - 4 p.m.
Championship Game - 7 p.m.

Onto the power rankings -

1. QUINNIPIAC (24-5-5 overall, 17-2-3 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1
The Bobcats had a tremendous regular season, winning the Cleary Cup, finishing 10 points ahead of second place RPI, and racking up the most points in the regular season (37) since Cornell had 38 in 2004-2005. But don't assume Quinnipiac will go uncontested in the league playoffs. The Bobcats are only 3-2-1 over the last six games and have proven to be human after all.

2. RENSSELAER (17-12-5, 12-7-3) LW: 2
If anyone is going to knock off Quinnipiac, RPI isn't a bad choice. The Engineers went 9-1 over their final 10 league contests while outscoring opponents 35-14. Senior defenseman Nick Bailen closed his final collegiate regular season on a high note with two goals and five assists in the last three contests.

3. YALE (16-10-3, 12-9-1) LW: 5
After a five game skid, Yale ended the season strong, winning its final three games. Saturday's 2-1 win over Cornell was the most impressive of the three as Cornell came into the game riding a five game unbeaten streak. Senior forward Andrew Miller has been especially good lately with two goals and three assists over the final three regular season contests.

4. UNION (17-12-5, 10-8-4) LW: 9
Protecting its home ice is one reason why the Dutchmen ended up getting a first round bye. Union went 6-0-1 over its past seven home games, including beating the St. Lawrence and Clarkson by a combined 9-1 score at crunch time over the weekend. The arrow is pointing back up again.

5. BROWN (11-12-6, 7-9-6) LW: 4
The Bears split over the weekend, losing 4-1 to Cornell on Friday ahead of a 5-1 win over Colgate the next night. The split was good enough to give Brown home ice in the first round, something that hasn't happened since 2005. The Bears are 3-1-1 over their past five games at Meehan Auditorium.

6. ST. LAWRENCE (16-14-4, 9-9-4) LW: 3
St. Lawrence entered the weekend in the mix for a first round bye, but those prospects went out the door with a 5-1 loss at Union and a 4-1 setback at RPI. It marked the first time all season that St. Lawrence lost back-to-back road games. Getting Kyle Flanagan (appendectomy) back for this weekend's series with Colgate would only help, but they should advance anyway.

7. CORNELL (12-14-3, 8-11-3) LW: 6
The Big Red closed out the regular season with a 4-1 triumph over Brown and a 2-1 loss at Yale, the latter being their first defeat in three weeks. Sophomore Joel Lowry, who was drafted by Los Angeles in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL draft, is playing some of his best hockey of the year with three goals and three assists in the final six regular season games. Goalie Andy Illes has come on strong as well, not allowing more than two goals in any of his last seven starts.

8. HARVARD (9-17-3, 6-14-2) LW: 10
Harvard became the second ECAC team to beat Quinnipiac this year after the Crimson held on for a 2-1 victory on Friday. Despite playing much better hockey of late (two losses in past six league games), Harvard couldn't escape the league basement and enter the tournament as the 12th seed. The Crimson will take on fifth-seeded Dartmouth and I'll go out on a limb and say Harvard wins in three.

9. DARTMOUTH (13-11-5, 9-9-4) LW: 8
In order to win in the playoffs, you need to string wins together. But the last time Dartmouth won back to back games was way back in mid January. A lot is made of Dartmouth's home dominance (10-4-1 on the year) but the Big Green are just 2-3-1 in their past six games at Thompson Arena.

10. PRINCETON (10-14-5, 8-10-4) LW: 12
Getting home ice in the first round may not be the best thing for the Tigers. Princeton is 0-4 in its past four home contests, but hold a 3-0-1 mark its last four road games. Speaking of road games, Princeton went into overtime in both weekend road games, tying Dartmouth, 2-2, and prevailing, 2-1, over Harvard. In the latter game, Princeton pulled goaltender Mike Condon late in overtime, but Andrew Calouf netted an extra skater goal with 37 seconds left on the clock to win it.

11. CLARKSON (9-18-7, 8-11-3) LW: 7
If Clarkson has any chance to beat Brown, they're going to need to score some goals. It sounds simple enough, right? However, scoring goals has been far from simple for the Golden Knights lately. Clarkson enters the league playoffs with scoreless drought of 141:29, the second longest in program history (167:45, set in 2002). You can thank the Clarkson Hockey Blog for that stat.

12. COLGATE (14-16-4, 6-13-3) LW: 11
The Raiders are the definition of limping into the playoffs. Colgate has all of one victory in the past 10 games and they don't appear all that likely to be playing in two weeks. The Raiders drew St. Lawrence in the first round and will be going on the road, where they have two wins all season. The last time Colgate won a league game on the road was Dec. 1 at Clarkson.

AUDIO: Former Union goalie Kris Mayotte

by Ryan Fay

Mayotte in his Union days

In advance of Friday's game against St. Lawrence, I chatted with Saints assistant coach Kris Mayotte, a goaltender at Union from 2002-2006.

In his four years between the pipes for Union, Mayotte won 46 games, a number still unsurpassed in the program's Division I era. Prior to joining St. Lawrence's staff this season, he spent a year as a volunteer assistant coach at Cornell.

Mayotte discusses his budding coaching career, his time at Union, St. Lawrence star Greg Carey, Friday's tilt, and more.

Listen/download via the player below or click here if you can't see the player.

The interview, which was conducted yesterday afternoon, runs just under 12 minutes.

Hosted by Kiwi6 file hosting. Download mp3 - Free Music Hosting.

ECAC hockey power rankings (2/25/13)

by Ryan Fay

It all comes down to this. The upcoming weekend marks the end of the regular season, but much is yet to be decided. Remarkably, the only lock is Quinnipiac finishing first. Just about everything else is up for grabs with many teams having a wide range of possible finishes.

Lets take a look at how the teams stack up as the regular season is set to close:

1. QUINNIPIAC (23-4-5 overall, 16-1-3 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1
Saturday's 3-3 tie against Brown will keep the #1/1 Bobcats from being the first ECAC team with 40 points since Harvard finished with 40 during the 1988-1989 campaign. Even with two wins to close out the regular season, Quinnipiac would max out at 39 points, which would rank as the highest single year point total in the league since Cornell racked up 39 in 2002-2003.

2. RPI (15-12-5, 10-7-3) LW: 2
RPI's eight game winning streak in league play came to an end with Friday's 4-1 loss at Cornell and the four goals allowed were the most given up by RPI in a single game since surrendering four at Princeton on Jan. 12. The weekend was salvaged when Matt Neal scored with ten seconds left in overtime to propel the Engineers to a 3-2 win at Colgate on Saturday. The second place Engineers remain in possession of a first round bye.

3. ST. LAWRENCE (16-12-4, 9-7-4) LW: 3
The Saints have a first round bye to lose and going on the road to conclude the regular season isn't the worst thing. With nine road wins, the Saints have the second most victories away from home in the league (Quinnipiac has 10). Additionally, St. Lawrence is the only team in the league with more road wins (9) than home wins (7).

4. BROWN (10-11-6, 6-8-6) LW: 6
Is there a peskier team in the league than the Bears? According to Dartmouth men's hockey SID Patrick Salvas, Brown has not lost a game to the eventual regular season champ last season (Union) or this season (Qunnipiac). The Bears went 2-0 against Union a year ago and are 0-0-2 versus Quinnipiac this season. On Saturday, the Bears used two late third period goals to tie the Bobcats, 3-3.

5. YALE (14-10-3, 10-9-1) LW: 5
The best news for #13/14 Yale over the weekend was the return of netminder Jeff Malcolm, who stopped 17-of-20 shots in Saturday's 4-3 triumph against Princeton. His return couldn't have come soon enough as the team lost all five games he missed. Another encouraging sign was scoring four goals on Saturday, which was as many as Yale had in the previous four games combined.

6. CORNELL (11-13-3, 7-10-3) LW: 11

That horrific stretch from late December through early February looks like a thing of the past. The Big Red are unbeaten in their past four games (3-0-1) and look like they could be peaking at the right time. Cornell handed RPI its first league loss in six weeks on Friday and used three early goals to take Union out of Saturday's game only 10 minutes into play. Greg Miller, who leads Cornell with 14 goals, has been particularly hot lately with six tallies in the past four contests.

7. CLARKSON (9-16-7, 8-9-3) LW: 7
Which team is tied with St. Lawrence for the second highest goals per game (GPG) average in league play? Quinnipiac? Nah, they comfortably top the list at 3.40 GPG. RPI? Nope, the Engineers are seventh at 2.60. It's Clarkson at 2.90 GPG. The Golden Knights wouldn't have been my first guess, either. According to USCHO.com ECAC columnist Brian Sullivan, Clarkson can finish as high as third and as low as 11th after next weekend. The Knights travel to RPI and Union to wrap up the regular season.

8. DARTMOUTH (13-10-4, 9-8-3) LW: 8
#19/RV Dartmouth is tied with Yale for the final first round bye and return home for a chance to solidify their positioning. The good news? The Big Green protect their home as well as anyone in the league, as evidenced by a 10-3 mark in games played at Thompson Arena this season. The bad news? The clubs coming in, Princeton and Quinnipiac, are 2-0 against Dartmouth this year.

9. UNION (15-12-5, 8-8-4) LW: 4
After two home wins last weekend, there was a feeling the team had righted the ship and looked poised for a strong finish. But this past weekend erased those thoughts. On Friday, the Dutchmen lost, 4-1, to a Colgate team which entered the game on a six game winless streak. The next night, Union essentially lost the game in the first ten minutes after falling behind 3-0 at Cornell. There were some strong spurts later in the contest, but it was an inconsistent effort that left a desire for a full sixty minute effort. I don't think there are many people who know what to expect from #20 Union going forward.

10. HARVARD (8-16-3, 5-13-2) LW: 10
You want your best players to step up late in the season and that's happening for Harvard. Top scorer Alex Fallstrom has a point in six straight contests, his longest streak of the season, and Marshall Everson has scored seven of his 11 goals in the same six game run. In that span, the Crimson are 5-1.

11. COLGATE (14-14-4, 6-11-3) LW: 12
If Colgate has a run in them, it will come from their underclassmen. Five of the team's top seven point getters are either freshmen or sophomores. The top three goal scorers, Kyle Baun, Tylor Spink, and Darcy Murphy are all freshmen. Even if the rest of the season fails to yield desirable results, a nice foundation is in place in Hamilton.

12. PRINCETON (9-14-4, 7-10-3) LW: 9
The Tigers haven't had much roar lately. Princeton has lost its past four contests, and worse yet, all four losses have been at home. Before the slide, Princeton was beaten at home just two times in the first four-plus months of the season. Their regular season ends with trips to Dartmouth and Harvard.

Union Hockey Soundbytes (2/21/13)

by Ryan Fay

Men's hockey head coach Rick Bennett and forward Kyle Bodie addressed the media this afternoon.

Hear what they said via the players below:





Can't see the embedded players?

To listen to Kyle Bodie, click here.

To hear Rick Bennett, click here.

ECAC Hockey Power Rankings (2/18/13)

by Ryan Fay

There are only two more weekends of regular season action. But there's a lot more yet to be decided. Lets see how the teams stack up right now:

1. QUINNIPIAC (22-4-4 overall, 15-1-2 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1

It finally happened. #1/1 Quinnipiac suffered its first league loss of the season after St. Lawrence held on for a 2-1 victory on Friday. There were some close calls earlier this season (i.e 1-1 ties against RPI and Brown) but it was Saints who finished the job. While the loss ruined a chance at an undefeated league season, it wasn't all that damaging. After Union knocked off Yale, the Bobcats clinched the Cleary Cup on Friday anyway. Concerns about a letdown performance on Saturday versus Clarkson were quelled with a 2-1 win.

2. RPI (14-11-5, 9-6-3) LW: 3

With all due respect to Quinnipiac, RPI may well be the ECAC team one would least want to face right now. The boys from Troy have fired off eight league wins in a row and have looked dominant in the process. RPI has allowed three goals or less in every game during the run with two shutouts mixed in. During the streak, the Engineers have outscored their opponents 30-10. You'd hate to be Colgate and Cornell this weekend.

3. ST. LAWRENCE (15-11-4, 8-6-4) LW: 4

If the Saints had any chance to beat Quinnipiac, they were going to need their best players to come up big. And that's what happened. Greg Carey, who leads the nation with 23 goals, scored both St. Lawrence goals on Friday. The junior has at least one goal in nine straight contests dating back to Jan. 19 at Clarkson. Currently tied with Union for third place, the Saints have a chance to solidify a first round bye with Dartmouth, Harvard, and Union coming up on the calendar. St. Lawrence is 3-0 against them this year.

4. UNION (15-10-5, 8-6-4) LW: 6

After starting the month on a three game winless streak, and losing grip on a first round bye, there was some concern the season may be starting to slip away from the two-time defending league champions. But the Dutchmen earned four huge points after beating #9/10 Yale 4-2 on Friday and blanking Brown 2-0 the next night. A week after getting yanked in consecutive starts, Troy Grosenick rebounded and accumulated 61 saves over the weekend. Currently tied with St. Lawerence for third place, Union once again has a first round bye to lose.

5. YALE (13-9-3, 9-8-1) LW: 2

This isn't the kind of stretch run the Bulldogs wanted to have. Yale is 1-5 over their past six games, including four straight losses. The team misses starting goaltender Jeff Malcolm, who is out for an undetermined amount of time. Backup Nick Maricic was pulled after letting up a couple soft goals against Union on Friday and third-stringer Conor Wilson allowed three goals on 21 shots in Saturday's loss at RPI. The offense isn't helping, either. Yale has scored five goals in the current four game skid. 

6. BROWN (9-11-5, 5-8-5) LW: 5

Brown's three game week began on a high note with a 1-0 blanking of Yale on Tuesday, but the weekend was a different story. A 5-1 rout at RPI preceded a 2-0 defeat at Union on Saturday. In the latter, the Bears were outhot 48-23. One concern with Brown is a lack of scoring depth. With 26 points, Matt Lorito has twice as many as any other player on the roster (Garnet Hathaway - 13). Lorito's 14 goals are more than double the next highest figure on the squad (Nick Lappin's six).

7. CLARKSON (8-15-7, 7-8-3) LW: 10

Clarkson handed Princeton just its third home loss of the season with Friday's 3-2 triumph. The next night, they hung tough with league-leading Quinnipiac, but dropped a 2-1 decision. He's no Greg Carey, but Allen McPherson has been on quite the streak himself. Of his nine goals this season, five of them have come in the past six games.

8. DARTMOUTH (12-9-4, 8-7-3) LW: 9

If you want to talk about a bad loss, #17 Dartmouth's 4-2 setback to Cornell on Friday would qualify. Not only did Cornell enter the game 1-10 over its last 11 games, the game was played at Dartmouth, where the Big Green were 9-2 on the season going into the weekend. Dartmouth rebounded on Saturday with a 5-4 win over Colgate and stand tied with Yale for fourth place.

9. PRINCETON (9-12-4, 7-8-3) LW: 7

The Tigers are a tough nut to crack. Last weekend, they picked up two wins on the road after entering that weekend with one road win all year. This past weekend, Princeton brought a 6-2 home record into home games with Clarkson and St. Lawrence. They lost both.

10. HARVARD (7-15-3, 4-12-2) LW: 11

Don't look now, but Harvard is unbeaten in its last four contests (2-0-2). It's certainly a welcome sight after the Crimson had a stretch with one win in 16 games. Harvard put up seven goals on Tuesday in a 7-4 win over #/11/13 Boston University in the Beanpot consolation game. The strong effort was followed by a 4-1 win over Colgate on Friday and a 2-2 draw with Cornell on Saturday.

11. CORNELL (9-13-3, 5-10-3) LW: 12
With a win and a tie, Cornell had its first league weekend with more than two points since picking up four points against Clarkson and St. Lawrence on Nov. 30-Dec 1. Cornell closes out the regular season portion of its home schedule this weekend against RPI and Union.

12. COLGATE (13-13-4, 5-10-3) LW: 8

With four straight defeats, the Raiders are sputtering to the finish line. The recent struggles can at least partly be blamed on a power play unit that has gone belly up after spending most of the season as one of the best in the conference. Over the past four games, the Colgate power play is 1-for-19.

College Hockey Video of the Week: Big Red, Frozen Four

When two teams wearing Red Wings home and away sweaters Cornell and Boston University faced off earlier on Saturday night, few expected the final score to be 8-7. Even fewer expected a thrilling 3OT affair. But who expected Lauriane Rougeau to pull a Mario Lemieux?

Then this happened:




Congratulations to Cornell, who is heading to the Frozen Four. On March 16th, Cornell will play Minnesota and Wisconsin will play Boston College.

The Dutchwomen were 0-2 this year against Cornell and 0-1 against Boston University.

Scores From Last Night

Last night was the semifinals of each conference tournament. All of the championship games are today. This is what happened:

ECAC
Yale 4 - Colgate 0
Cornell 3 - Dartmouth 0
Championship: Yale vs. Cornell, 7pm in Atlantic City

CCHA
Miami 6 - Notre Dame 2
Western Michigan 5- Michigan 2
Championship: Miami vs. Western Michigan, 7:35pm in Detroit

Hockey East
Boston College 5 - Northeastern 4
Merrimack 4 - New Hampshire 1
Championship: Boston College vs. Merrimack, 7pm in Boston

WCHA
Denver 6 -  Bemidji 2
North Dakota 4 - Colorado College 3
Championship: Denver vs. North Dakota, 7:05pm (CT) in St. Paul

Atlantic Hockey
Air Force 3 - Holy Cross 2
RIT 4 - UConn 2
Championship: Air Force vs. RIT, 7:05pm in Rochester

For box scores and recaps from each game go to USCHO.

After tonight we will know who is in and who is out of the NCAA Tournament. On Sunday at 11:30am on ESPN2 we will find out where everyone is playing. It looks like RPI has a really good shot of making it by the way.

Friday Night Recaps/ Linkorama

After reading Justin's post (below) you probably know all the details from last nights game. But, here are some recaps about the game:

USCHO
Ithaca Journal
Union Athletics.com
Ken Schott's Blog
Times Union

In other ECAC games last night Yale was upset by St. Lawrence, and RPI fell to Colgate in overtime. These results have caused Union to jump into first place in the ECAC standings (one point ahead of Yale), and RPI to drop to fourth (six points behind Union). Colgate has now won two ECAC games in a row and look to make it three tonight at Messa Rink.

After last night's win Union is now tied for 7th in the PWR with New Hampshire and RPI.

I also want to say that the Union College Pep Band (Nott Noisemakers), while they're not comparable to the Cornell pep band, have improved tremendously. They are starting to get the hang of being a college hockey pep band, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were a true college hockey pep band in a few years.

On another note, I thought the actions of Dan Nicholls were completely classless. He just went after Andrew Buote for pretty much no reason (I'm not sure if Bootsie said anything to him or whatever). You got to give a lot of credit to him for showing some restraint. I also want people to know that Cornell coach Mike Schafer did not tell Nicholls to do this. Schafer is a class act and did not approve of Nicholls' actions.

Here are some other links that I thought were interesting:

The Cornell fans were not happy with the way Union fans acted last night. I'm sure a part of this can be attributed to their team's performance in the game, but semi-assaulting an opposing fan is not acceptable. (Lynah Forum)

According to this article more and more young Canadian hockey players are leaning towards playing NCAA hockey rather than the Canadian major junior leagues. (New York Times).... Thanks for the tip Dad!

I think I already Tweeted this, but the past few years that I've gone to the Frozen Four I really liked going to the Skills Competition because some Union players were in it (Mrazek, Walters, Leaman). But, the competition has been cancelled and has been replaced by an open skate. (USCHO)

Every week in the Concordiensis (student newspaper of Union College) there is a small section called "Man On The Street." In this section a question is asked to four Union students about topics in the world or at Union. This week's question was "What is your take on the policy to censor and/or kick out hockey fans that use profanity in their chants?" Of the four students asked, two of them were hockey players. Senior Stephane Boileau answered, "Wouldn't that mean kicking out the entire rink? I don't think we're the worst at all. Cornell's far worse. I personally don't mind. It's kind of part of the game and college hockey. I prefer the crowd being part of the game because they can make a big difference." Sophomore Ryan Forgaard said, "When you're out there on the ice and the crowd is really into the game, it gets everyone on the team going and it gives us more energy. We think we have the best fans in the league and it gives us a big home ice advantage. They're like the 7th player out there for us and it's a big boost to how we play and how successful we are." This has been a topic of conversation on campus lately. (Concordy)

There was a Union College Trustees meeting held on campus this weekend. I got to spend some time with trustee Jason Oshins this afternoon, who is the founder of the AEPi chapter on campus and a huge Union Hockey fan. He supports the Garnet Blades so much that in one game last season he was able to stand behind the bench for the entire 60 minutes. Here's the video:

Tonight's Lineups vs. Cornell (2/11/11)

Daniel Carr

Union
Carr - Welsh - Jooris
Presizniuk - Zajac - Hatch
Sullivan - J. Simpson - W. Simpson
Buote - Pallos - Boileau

Forgaard - Julseth-White
Coburn - Stuart
M. Bodie - Matheson

Kinkaid
Milan
Grosenick

Joe Devin

Cornell
Esposito - Kary - Kennedy
Roeszler - Miller - J. Devin
Craig - Collins - Nicholls
Jillson - Axell - Mowrey

Birch - M. Devin
Gotovets - Ross
D'Agostino - Brisson

Iles
Garman

NHL Draft Picks: Collins (Columbus '08 7th round), Birch (Chicago '08 6th round), Gotovets (Tampa Bay '09 7th round), D'Agostino (Pittsburgh '08 7th round)

Players To Watch This Weekend/ Videos

Tonight the Dutchmen take on Cornell for the WHITEOUT! After a slow start the Big Red have picked it up lately as they've only lost once in their past 10 games (Union has also only lost once in their past 10 games). The one loss came against Union. They are now tied with Dartmouth for 4th place in the ECAC and are only one point behind third place RPI.

Tomorrow night Union welcomes in Colgate, who won their first ECAC game of the season last weekend with a 4-2 over Clarkson.

Cornell
Joe Devin: the senior forward was named last week's ECAC Player of the Week as he picked up three goals and two assists. He leads the team with 11 goals.
Greg Miller: the sophomore forward netted the game-winning goal in overtime against St. Lawrence last Saturday. He leads the team with 19 assists and 22 points.

Colgate
Francois Brisebois: the senior forward leads the team with 10 goals and 23 points. He's been very hot of late scoring a goal in three of his last four games and has picked up a point in seven of is last nine games. He accumulated a goal and assist in last week's win over Clarkson.
Kurtis Bartliff: the sophomore forward is tied for second on the team with 13 assists. He scored two goals against Clarkson.

Union
Keith Kinkaid: last weekend marked the first time this season where he allowed a combined six goals on back-to-back nights. Let's see how he responds.
Mat Bodie: the younger Bodie has been overshadowed by the success of Josh Jooris and Daniel Carr, but he has put together a very solid freshman campaign accumulating five goals, 19 assists, and 24 points. He is in the Top 5 of the ECAC in assists.

For more on the weekend check out:
Union Athletics.com
Cornell Big Red.com
Ithaca Journal.com
Go Colgate Raiders.com

When you get to the game be sure to pick up a game program. This week's feature article in the program is about John Simpson. Read it because I wrote it! Also, tonight I will be freelancing for the Ithaca Journal, which should be interesting. So, you can read my game recap in the Ithaca Journal with a Cornell twist.

Check out this music video made by some players from Cornell last season, and a feature on Cornell fans:

Union Sweeps Central New York Trip

Keith Kinkaid

The Starr Curse? OVER! Lynah Rink? SILENCED! This is the first time Union can say that since they swept the Central New York trip in 1998.

Friday night the Dutchmen were able to pull out a 2-1 victory at Colgate despite a poor effort. But, winning games that you really shouldn't win is a sign of a good team. Wayne Simpson and Josh Jooris scored for Union, and Keith Kinkaid put in one of his best performances of the season with 24 saves. After the game Coach Leaman said, "if it wasn’t for Keith I don’t think we win that game."

They were not discouraged or intimidated by Cornell the following night as they convincingly beat the Big Red 5-1 just one night after RPI lost at Lynah by the same score. It didn't look good for Union at first as they went down 1-0 early, but finished the game with five unanswered goals. Daniel Carr scored two power-play goals, Brock Matheson scored his first goal of the year, Kevin Sullivan picked up his second goal in as many weekends along with two assists, and Wayne added an empty netter. Kinkaid made 16 stops. The Dutchmen completely dominated as they outworked the Big Red and out shot them 42-17.

On a side note, it must have been weird to go from playing in front of under 800 people at Colgate to playing in front of a sold out crowd at Cornell. The atmosphere in the two rinks are complete opposites. Maybe that's why Union's had so much trouble during this road trip in the past.

Also, Keith Kinkaid has allowed four goals in his past four games. He is third in the nation with a 1.91 GAA among goalies with at least eight games played, and is tied for second with 14 wins. Kinkaid leads Union's defense, which is tops in the nation with 2.00 goals allowed per game.

Daniel Carr

With his two power-play goals against Cornell, Daniel Carr now has nine power-play goals on the season. Not only does this tie a Union D-1 record (Chris Ford 1993-1994), but is second most in the country. At season's end I'm sure Carr, along with Jooris and Mat Bodie, will be in serious contention of the ECAC Rookie of the Year.

Up next, Union hosts Dartmouth and Harvard. Both games (as usual) are extremely important, especially the Dartmouth game.

For more on the Colgate game go to:
Union Athletics.com
Go Colgate Raiders.com
Ken Schott's Blog

For more on the Cornell game check out:
Union Athletics.com
Cornell Big Red.com
Ken Schott's Blog
Ithaca Journal

Oh, and Union's Club Hockey team opened up their winter term schedule with a win over Mohawk Valley CC 7-3.

Union Travels to Two Tough Buildings This Weekend

Prior to the beginning of the season I thought that the trip to Colgate and Cornell would be one of the most difficult one's of the year. I thought both of these teams would be competing for an ECAC championship (and so did the Coaches and Media). But, both the Raiders and Big Red have struggled to begin the ECAC season as both are in the bottom half of the standings with Colgate being in dead last. While I am more confident about Union's chances this weekend there are still reasons to worry. I do think Union will pick up two wins this weekend, but I would not be shocked if they lost one or both of these games for these two reasons:

Starr Rink

1. The Starr Curse: The Dutchmen have played 22 games at Colgate's Starr rink and they've only picked up ONE WIN going 1-20-1. The last time Union won a game at Colgate was in 1998 when Trevor Koening was in net (Check out Ken Schott's article about the win here). No player on Union's current roster has ever won a game at Starr. There is really no rhyme or reason to this trend, but the Dutchmen will have to find a way to break the curse... and this would be the perfect time to do so considering the Raiders have only won one game in their past 16 (1-14-1), including a seven game losing streak (three loses in OT).

Lynah Rink

2. Lynah Rink's atmosphere: Maybe a reason why Union has had so much trouble at Colgate is because they are looking ahead to playing at Cornell the next night, which is a pretty daunting task. Cornell's Lynah rink is the toughest building to play in the ECAC and one of the toughest in the country. The Big Red fans always pack the place and are extremely loud. They have some of the best fans in the country as they have a great pep band and entertaining chants. If you come out without alive without a loss at Cornell, you've done a good job. Cornell might be down as of this moment, but they are extremely dangerous. They just beat Quinnipiac and Princeton on the road.

Here are some players to look out for this weekend:

Colgate:
Austin Smith (forward): leads team with 12 assists and 17 points. He was named All-ECAC this preseason.
Francois Brisebois (forward): second on the team with 16 points.
Brian Day (forward): leads the team in goals (8), power-play goals (4), and penalty minutes (28). I picked him as All-ECAC this preseason and predicted that he would have a huge year.

Cornell:
Nick D'Agostino (defense): leads the team with six goals, tied for second with five assists, and is second with 11 points... AS A DEFENSEMAN! This actually comes as no surprise to me since I picked him to my Preseason All-ECAC team.
Greg Miller (forward): leads team with 10 assists and 12 points.
Joe & Mike Devin (forward & defense): the two senior brothers are big powerful players. Joe is tied for second on the team with five goals and is thrid with 10 points, wile Mike leads the team with 24 penalty minutes. Their younger sister Molly-Kate is a sophomore on Union's Women's Hockey team.

Union:
Kyle Bodie (forward): played very well last weekend as he picked up four points and was named the ECAC Player of the Week. Let's see if he can follow it up with another good performance and solidify his spot in the lineup.
Andrew Buote (forward): was a healty scratch for the first time in a long time last Saturday against Clarkson. Leaman says he's "challenging the seniors," so let's see how he responds.
Adam Presizniuk (forward): he finally broke the all-time points record last weekend, which was probably nice to just get out of the way. This weekend is his third weekend back since returning from his thumb injury. Now with the record out of the way and his thumb feeling better let's see if Prezie goes on a tear.

For more on the games check out:
Union Athletics.com
Go Colgate Raiders.com
The Unofficial Colgate Hockey Blog
Ken Schott's Blog --> He has tonight's starting lineups
Cornell Big Red.com

Also, Union Assistant SID Jeff Weinstein will be live chatting tonight from Starr Rink. To access the Live Chat click here.

Pirri officially leaves RPI

When Jerry D'Amigo (right) announced he was leaving RPI for the Toronto Maple Leafs, I said this was "great news for Union fans." Now that fellow freshman stud Brandon Pirri (left) is following in his footsteps as he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks yesterday, I am proclaiming that this is "AMAZING news for Union fans." I wonder what With Out A Peer will have to say about that (haha). I will say the same thing I said about D'Amigo: congrats and I hope you do well, but this is really going to hurt RPI in the wins column. Yes, maybe RPI will attract some bigger recruits, but at the end of the day it's about wins and winning championships... Just ask Rex Ryan.

Here's what RPI Head Coach Seth Appert had to say to Ken Schott:

"'At the end of the day, you win with your seniors,' Appert said. 'That's what college hockey is all about. It's about you senior class. I'm excited about the seniors that we have. We have eight coming back, and I like them for different reasons. I know from experience that the teams I've played on and coached that have won at their highest levels, won with seniors and not with talented, young players.'"

Well, if this is true, it doesn't look like RPI will be winning too much because after Chase Polacek there really isn't that many impact seniors. You have Bryan Brutlag and Tyler Helfrich on offense, who both need to step up dramatically to try and fill the holes D'Amigo and Pirri left. On defense you have Jeff Foss and captain John Kennedy, who will have to not only be rock solid on defense but help on the offensive end as well. Maybe the incoming freshman can help out on both sides of the puck. RPI will have to depend on their defense with Kennedy and Foss leading the way, and incoming freshmen Patrick Koudys and Guy Leboeuf logging some major minutes. But, once again, I am not impressed with goaltender Allen York.

I agree with Appert that you win with your seniors. Just look at Union last season. They had the best season and program history and were led by seniors Mario Valery-Trabucco and Jason Walters. You can also say the same about Cornell, who were lead by Blake Gallagher, Colin Greening, and Ben Scrivens. The mix of great veterans with some talented younger players is the key for success (see Maine Hockey 1993, Paul Kariya, Ferraro Brothers, and Jim Montgomery). But, in order to do this you need to keep some good players for four years. Maybe if RPI is lucky one of their freshmen will step up with Polacek and go on a run. But, when the Class of 2013 becomes seniors it will be a pretty weak group of guys (Marty O'Grady is promising though). And if you win with your seniors there's not going to be a lot of winning in Troy during the 2012-13 season.

For more on Pirri check out Ken Schott's Blog, NBC Sports.com, and M Live.com.

This also brings up the thought of Union players leaving school early to join the NHL ranks. Now that Union is on the rise, they will be getting better recruits. The one name that comes to mind is Keith Kinkaid, who was named to the ECAC All-Rookie team last season. If he has a big season this year, there is that possibility that he leaves Union. Keith has participated in many NHL Prospect Camps and NHL teams have some interest in him. This would be a major loss for the Dutchmen if this were to happen, but luckily Colin Stevens is on his way next year. The difference between Kinkaid and the RPI studs is that Kinkaid was not drafted by an NHL team. But, we'll cross that bridge when it comes around.

Read this article from the Satchem Patch (Long Island) about Kinkaid and the possibility of him going to the NHL.

Help Cornell Head Coach Mike Schafer

The college hockey community is a small one, one that's tight knit and very passionate. While some fans and players might hate each other while the game is being played, off the ice we are one big family. And as a family we must help each other when one needs help... Even when the one your helping just destroyed your dream of your first ECAC Championship and ended your season.

Recently, Cornell Bench Boss Mike Schafer's nephew Jake has been diagnosed with cancer. This is not the first time his family has been stricken by a life threatening sickness. I'm not going to go into it, but you an read about it on Ithaca Journal.com.

So, I urge you to donate to the cause or at least send your best wishes to the Schafer family. You can donate or write a message to Jake's Team by clicking here. It's very quick and easy (only took me a minute), but most of all it is for a good cause.

All-USCHO teams announced

Even though no Dutchmen were named to either of the All-USCHO teams, there were some familiar faces on each team. Maine's sophomore superstar and Hobey Baker hat trick finalist Gustav Nyquist was named to the first team. Nyquist and the Black Bears traveled to Schenectady to take on Union in the first two weekends of the season. Also, two of Union's biggest enemies this season were named to the second team: ECAC Player of the Year Chase Polacek (RPI) and ECAC Goalie of the Year Ben Scrivens (Cornell). Polacek led the league in scoring, while Scrivens was one of the nation's top goaltenders.

For the complete list check out USCHO.com.

ECAC stars sign with NHL teams

Cornell's Brendon Nash and Yale's Sean Backman, two of the best seniors in the ECAC this past season, have each signed a professional contract with an NHL team. Nash, a defenseman, has just signed a two-year deal with the Montreal Canadiens, while Backman, a forward, recently agreed to a contract with the Dallas Stars. Both players were First Team all-ECAC selections this season. For more on Nash and Backman check out ECAC Hockey.com.

Recap of Day 1 of NCAA Tournament

In an exciting first day of the NCAA Tournament a #1 seed, #2 seed, #3, and #4 seed all advanced. It was an exciting four games as three of the games were one goal games. Both games in the West regional were close affairs. First, St. Cloud topped Northern Michigan 4-3 in double overtime. This was the first win for the (2)Huskies in the national tournament in eight tries. This game was followed by another nail-biter as Wisconsin beat Vermont 3-2 behind three power-play goals by the (1) Badgers.

The biggest upset of the day came in the East Region where (4) RIT beat a highly praised Denver team 2-1. I was able to watch this game on TV and was very impressed with the Tigers and their goaltender Jared DeMichiel. DeMichiel was very aggressive in net as he was on top of his crease all game. On one save he was even out around the hash marks.

The only game that was a blowout was the UNH-Cornell game where Bobby Butler,the nation's leading scorer, and the (3) Wildcats put up a six spot on Ben Scirvens and the Big Red. Scrivens did not allow a goal for an ECAC record 266:11, but UNH was able to put up six goals in the final 23+ minutes of the first round game. Not only was this not good for Cornell, but it is bad for the ECAC as a whole. Cornell was supposed to be the top team in the ECAC by far and a legitimate contender for the national tournament. But, allowing six goals in their first tournament game proves that the ECAC is truly the weakest of the "Big Four" conferences in college hockey. As a Union fan it is mind-boggling how Cornell looked so dominant during the ECAC playoffs and in the championship game against the Dutchmen, and then get demolished against UNH. Imagine what the Wildcats would have done to Union's four freshmen defensemen and freshman goaltender. This was the first time the Big Red allowed six goals all season and only the third time they allowed at least five goals. Also note that Cornell went into Manchester earlier this season and beat the Wildcats 5-2.

Well, after going 3-1 today I lead the family bracket challenge. But, my one loss is a big one since I picked Cornell to go to the Championship game. Luckily, two people picked Denver to go to the championship game and one picked the Pioneers to win them all.

Tomorrow, the Northeast and Midwest Regionals get underway. In the Northeast, (1) BC takes on (4) Alaska-Fairbanks at 1:30pm, and (2) North Dakota will go up against the last ECAC team left in the tournament in (3) Yale at 5:30pm. (1)Miami, the nation's top team, kicks off the Midwest regional against (4)Alabama-Huntsville at 4pm, who snuck into the tournament as they won the CHA tournament when Bemidji was upset in the previous round. At 7:30pm, (2) Bemidji looks to cool down (3) Michigan, who is riding a hot streak into the national tournament. They seem to be really feeding off the opportunity of playing in the Frozen Four in their home state.

Hopefully, tomorrow's six games will be equally exciting as today's.

NCAA Tournament starts today

While the NCAA Basketball tournament continues today, the NCAA Hockey tournament begins with the East and West Regional Games. In Albany, (1) Denver takes on (4) Rochester Institute of Technology at 3pm, and (2) Cornell goes up against (3) New Hampshire at 6:30pm. In St. Paul, (1) Wisconsin plays (4) Vermont at 9pm, and (2) St. Cloud State matches up against (3) Northern Michigan at 5:30pm.

If you haven't filled out your bracket do so ASAP. I have already done so and have picked Miami, Boston College, Wisconsin, and Cornell to make it to the Frozen Four. Then I have Miami and Cornell matching up in the final with Miami taking home the hardware.

Union's Season ends in ECAC Finals

Sorry about the late post... I've been having some computer issues.

Well, that was a disappointing way to end the season. The score and the shots might have been close, but it was not an equal contest. The Big Red was just perfect in every facet of the game and the Dutchmen couldn't handle the constant pressure. Cornell's forecheck worked perfectly, their defense was impenetrable, the penalty kill was swarming, and the power-play was flawless. It just looked like men amongst boys out there as even some of Union's "tougher" players were being knocked around. Going into the game Union knew it was going to be a tough task at hand, but they didn't even make it interesting. The Union crowd seemed to realize this as it seemed to get quieter and quieter as the game progressed. The 3-0 loss was the first time all season the Dutchmen got shutout and lost. In the RPI Tournament, Union beat Lake Superior State in a shootout after finishing regulation at 0-0.

As I said before the game, special teams would be incredibly important. And it was as the Big Red scored two power-play goals, and their penalty kill did not let Union get any good shots on Ben Scrivens, who was named tournament MVP after the game. The Dutchmen took too many penalties and some were undisciplined penalties which were out of character.

But, even though it was a disappointing end to the greatest season in the history of Union College Division I hockey, there were a few good things that came out of the game: 1) Keith Kinkaid had a good game and a good Final Four. The Dutchmen might really have a big time future goaltender. 2) Adam Presizniuk seemed to be one of few Union players not to be over matched against Cornell as he was able to skate and battle with the Cornell players. Prez had a great playoffs and hopefully he can be Union's go-to-guy next season. 3) Four freshman defensemen played in both Final Four games. This gave them some major experience points and will be helpful if the Dutchmen make it back to the Final Four. 4) Many Union fans came out to support their team this past weekend. Hopefully the fans keep supporting the team and more people in the Schenectady area catch on in the future.

It's sad to see Mario Valery-Trabucco and Jason Walters finish up their four years at Union. They are arguably the greatest players in the history of the program. Unfortunately for the Dutchmen the duo did not have a great playoffs. In five playoff games Mario tallied two goals and an assist. One goal came in the first game of the playoffs when he pushed the puck about three inches into the back of the net after Walters rung a shot off the post, and the other goal was an empty netter against St. Lawrence. Walters on the other hand picked up just two assists, the first coming on Mario's goal against Quinnipiac and the second coming on Adam Presizniuk's game-winning goal against SLU. Either way these two guys brought Union to where they were and they will be deeply missed.

That is all I have for now. I will continue blogging throughout the off-season and will focus on such topics as evaluating the 2009-10 season, looking into next season, and maybe even getting some special interviews with people in Union Hockey. I had a great time following the team this season and couldn't have asked for anything more.

Union beats SLU to go to ECAC Championship Game

Who would have picked Union to be in the ECAC Championship game in the beginning of the season? Not many. The Dutchmen were picked to finish sixth in both the Coaches and Media Poll prior to the season. But, with last night's barn-burner Union will face Cornell to decide who will take home the ECAC crown.

Last night's atmosphere was incredible. I don't think I've ever seen so many Union fans in one place! The Union faithful took up about four to five sections at the TUC. The fans were also extremely loud and easily drowned out the SLU fans with their chants. They even found ways to make the SLU cheers into Union cheers. Dutchmen fans will have to be even louder tonight as Cornell has a tremendous and loyal following and has a great cheering section.

The Dutchmen did not play a great game as they seemed to not have enough jump and were fighting the puck a little too much. Luckily, Keith Kinkaid was stellar in net for Union as he made 29 saves on the night, including 13 in the final period. He was great positionally as he was able to catch almost every outside shot in his chest. It looks like the Coach of the Year made a "Coach of the Year" decision. Even though the Dutchmen missed the net on some good opportunities, they were still opportunistic. On only eight shots in the final 40 minuets, Union was able to score two goals.

On other notes, Kelly Zajac got hurt for the second game in a row. After separating his shoulder last weekend, he seemed to sustain another arm/shoulder injury. But, he returned in the second period and played the rest of the game. Now that's what I call a hockey player. As an old hockey friend of mine used to say, "Just Tape It Up." Also, with an assist on last night's game-winning goal, Jason Walters in now the all-time leading scorer with 115 points. But, Mario Valery-Trabucco is right on his tail.

For more on last night's game check out Union Athletics.com, USCHO.com, Ken Schott's Blog, Daily Gazette.com, and other literature you can find on the Extra Frame Blog.

Tonight's game against the Big Red will be a tough one for the Dutchmen as Cornell is one of the most fundamentally sound teams in the nation. Oh, and have I mentioned that they have one of the nation's best goaltenders? Ben Scrivens has been lights out all year and is near the top in every statistical category in all of Division I college hockey. He is tied for first with a .935 save percentage, second with a 1.83 GAA, fourth with 20 wins, and tied for first with six shutouts. He was recently named First Team all-ECAC and is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. Scrivens leads the second best defense in the country that has only allowed 1.91 goals per game. Besides Scrivens, Cornell's strength is its' special teams. The Big Red sports the ninth best power-play in the country (20.7%) and the third best penalty kill in the country (87.4%).

So, the keys tonight for the Dutchmen are to stay out of the penalty box and to be opportunistic. It was only two games ago that Union did not have to kill any penalties, and if they do that again they will be in good shape. Also, if they go on the power-play they're going to have to screen Scrivens and pounce on any loose pucks.

If the Dutchmen are able to come out on top tonight it will probably be by the score of 1-0 or 2-1. In their past five games, Cornell has not allowed more than one goal and have only allowed one goal in their three playoff games. Scrivens and the defense brings their shutout streak into tonight's game as they have shutout Harvard and Brown in back-to-back games. Cornell has not allowed a goal in over 170 minutes. The game will be a great battle between high-flying offense (Union is fifth in the nation in scoring) and stifling defense (Cornell is second in the nation in team defense).