ANOTHER Union Hockey Pump Up Video

Just received this nice video through Twitter from Hayley Bennett (the daughter of Associate Head Coach Rick Bennett). I really like how she adds a good amount of clips of the Union fans. Looks like everyone is getting into the Union spirit! Gotta love it! Here's the video:



And once again, if you haven't seen Phil Cohn's video that he made for the team and was nice enough to make it public here it is:



I'll throw this video I made quickly two weeks ago into the post just to make sure you are truly pumped up!



LET'S GO UNION!!!

Game 3's Today

Saturday saw two ECAC playoff series end and two force a game three.

Quinnipiac beat Brown for the second night in a row, and Harvard did the same at Clarkson. Colgate beat RPI in Game Two to force a game on Sunday, and St. Lawrence shocked most prognosticators as they won at Princeton to force a decisive Game Three.

So what does this mean for Union? Well, Union will play the lowest seeded team left after the first round. So, if Colgate wins then Union will play them. If Colgate loses, but SLU wins, Union will play the Saints. If both Colgate and SLU lose, Union will play Harvard. So, Union will play either Harvard, SLU, or Colgate.

As a Union fan who would you want to play out of those three teams? Any opponent in the playoffs is tough, but if I had to pick I'd go with the Saints. I just feel Harvard goaltender Ryan Carroll is hot right now and has been very good at Union, and Colgate is a very dangerous team (at least more dangerous than the Saints).

Anyways, Brown senior captain Harry Zolnierczyk's career ended tonight. He was one of the most hated players in the league, but also one of the best. He had his troubles during his freshman here (click here), but has gone on to become one of the most dangerous forwards in the ECAC. He was just recently named the Ivy League Player of the Year (click here).

So, in honor of Harry Z here's a video of an awesome goal he scored last weekend at Cornell. It's one of the best college hockey goals I've seen all year (go to the 34 second mark):

ECAC Playoffs: First Round

After finishing first in the ECAC the Dutchmen get this weekend off. They will see what happens in the First Round to find out who their next opponent will be.

Here's the first round matchups:

(12) Colgate at (5) RPI
(11) St. Lawrence at (6) Princeton
(10) Harvard at (7) Clarkson
(9) Brown at (8) Quinnipiac

It is so tough to pick who is going to win each series, which is what make the ECAC so great. You never know who is going to win on a given day. I think that every game this weekend will be extremely close with plenty of them going into overtime.

Anyways, these are my predictions:

Colagate at RPI: Colgate in three games. They split the season series with each team losing at home. RPI has not played well of late, and haven't had too much success against the Raiders.

St. Lawrence at Princeton: Princeton in two games. St. Lawrence has been cold, while the Tigers have been hot in the second half. Plus, the Saints have to make the long trip from the North Country to New Jersey.

Harvard at Clarkson: Clarkson in three games. This was a really tough pick for me. Harvard has been very hot lately, and Clarkson has kind of limped into the playoffs. But, I think the Golden Knights will build off of their win at Dartmouth and will seek revenge for losing at Harvard last weekend. I also feel that Clarkson has more fire power up front.

Brown at Quinnipiac: Quinnipiac in three games. If Jack Maclellan wasn't hurt I would have went with the Bears. I just don't think Harry Z can do it all by himself. I'm not a fan of how QU plays, but they have enough to beat Brown at home.

So, there are my picks. Take 'em or leave 'em. If Colgate does upset RPI like I predict, Union will host the Raiders next weekend. If not... then we'll see. It's going to be a great weekend of hockey!

For more (including broadcasting information) check out Brian Sullivan's column on USCHO.

Looking into St. Lawrence

Forwards: the Saints have a very balanced attack up front with many players doing their part as they have seven forwards with double-digit points. Their big time players have also been stepping up in the playoffs. The forwards will bring a lot of energy and speed to the ice.

Travis Vermeulen: in his three seasons in Canton Vermeulen tallied 18 goals (1 power-play goal), 24 assists, and 42 points in 105 games. This year he has emerged as the offensive leader on the Saints as he has put up monster numbers: 17 goals (7 power-play goals), 24 assists, and 41 points (tied for fourth in ECAC) in 40 games. He leads the team in each of these categories. Vermeulen has been a consistent scorer throughout the season. He has continued his consistency late into the season as he has registered at least one point in 17 of his last 20 games. He has not scored a goal in the playoffs, but has picked up four assists. Yesterday Vermeulen was named the ECAC Defensive Forward of the year. He has been a top penalty killer for the Saints and has been very successful in the face-off circle. He also sports a +10 plus/minus rating. He is only 5' 6" and 170 lbs, so the big Union defensemen should try to knock him around.

Mike McKenzie: this senior forward has been a constant point producer for the Saints during his tenure. He has kept it up this year as he has tallied 14 goals, 21 assists, and 35 points this season. He is second to Vermeulen on the team in goals and points. He has been the offensive catalyst for the Saints during the playoffs as he has tallied a goal in the Saints last four playoff games. McKenzie has also been hot late this season as he has registered a point in eight of his last nine games (7 goals, 5 assists). He has also scored a goal in seven of his last eight games.

Kyle Flanagan: while McKenzie has been the goal scoring machine in the playoffs for the Saints, Flanagan has been the assists machine. He has registered an assist in four of SLU's five playoff games. Flanagan, a freshman from Canton, has been racking up the assists all year. He is second on the team with 23 assists in just 30 games.

Aaron Bogosian: the junior has been another key for the Saints in the playoffs. He has registered a point in all five of SLU's playoff games (3 goals, 3 assists), and has tallied a point in eight of his last nine contests. Bogosian is third on the team with 11 goals. Bogosian is from Massena, New York and is the brother of Zach Bogosian, who is an assistant captain for the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers.

Defense: the Saints defense is solid on the defensive end, but is lethal on the offensive side of the puck. They have four defesnemen with double-digit points, all of whom have scored at least six goals. This means the Union wingers will have to pressure the point and block a lot of shots.

George Hughes: the freshman leads all Saints defensemen with 18 assists and 23 points (fourth in ECAC among defensemen). He has picked up four assists this postseason, including one in each of his past two games.

Derek Keller: the senior defender leads all ECAC defensemen with nine goals. Six of his nine goals have come on the power-play so make sure to keep an eye on him when the Saints power-play unit takes the ice. But, Keller has been in a goal-scoring drought as he hasn't scored since 2/19 at Yale.

Senior defenseman Jeff Caister and sophomore defenseman Peter Child each have registered six goals and 11 assists this season. Caister scored a goal and had an assist in the Clarkson series, while Child tallied two assists in the Colgate series.

Goaltending: Kain Tisi will be in goal tonight for the Saints. He has received the bulk of the starts this season. He has started three of SLU's five playoff games where he has gone 3-0-0, where he has let up six goals. For most of the year, Tisi was one of the hottest goaltenders in the nation. Heading into his last meeting with Union (2/6) he was fourth in the nation in GAA and tield for second in save percentage. But, he has fallen back down to earth late in the season as he went winless in his last five regular season games and let up 21 goals. Because of his poor end of the season Tisi was not a finalist for the Ken Dryden Award. On the season Tisi is 11-8-3 with a 2.47 GAA (third in ECAC) and .915 save percentage (also third in ECAC).

Prediction: I'm going to have to go with Union tonight. My first reason is because they got to sleep in their own beds last night and have experience playing in the Times Union Center because they played in the Governor's Cup. Also, I feel SLU has had the easiest road to the ECAC Final Four this year. They first played Clarkson, the worst team in the ECAC by far, and it took them three games to knock the Golden Knights off. Then they traveled to Starr Rink, which is the least intimidating rink in the ECAC. It's going to be a big jump for the Saints going from those two environments to a major playoff atmosphere right in Union's backyard. It's going to be a tight one tonight but I say Union comes out on top 3-2.

Union's Lineup Changes Tonight; ECACHWBA Awards

According to Ken Schott, freshman Keith Kinkaid will be starting in net tonight for the Dutchmen. Kinkaid has started in both games against the Saints this year. Also, senior captain Mike Wakita will be out of the lineup because of a lower body injury he suffered last Sunday against Quinnipiac. Freshman Ryan Forgaard will take his place, meaning Union will have three freshman defensemen in tonight's starting lineup. The Dutchmen will definitely miss Wakita's presence and hard hits on the ice tonight. Hopefully someone like Nolan Julseth-White can step up and take that role.

Also, the inaugural ECAC Hockey Writers and Broadcasters Association awards were announced today. They are unofficial awards and I was even lucky enough to have a vote in the awards. And the winners are...

Player of the Year: Chase Polacek, RPI
Rookie of the Year: Brandon Pirri, RPI
Goalie of the Year: Ben Scrivens, Cornell
Coach of the Year: Nate Leaman, Union
Defensive Forward of the Year: Travis Vermeulen, SLU
Defensive Defenseman of the Year: Justin Krueger, Cornell

First Team: Polacek, Mario Valery-Trabucco (Union), Broc Little (Yale), Mike Schreiber (Union), Tom Dignard (Yale), Scrivens
Second Team: Sean Backman (Yale), Austin Smith (Colgate), Blake Gallagher (Cornell), Krueger, Brendon Nash (Cornell), Allen York (RPI)
All-Rookie Team: Pirri, Jerry D'Amigo (RPI), Louis Leblanc (Harvard), Nick D'Agostino (Cornell), George Hughes (SLU), Keith Kinkaid (Union)

More Notes on This Weekend

• The CDTA will be offering a shuttle service for this weekend's games. It's $10 to park but the shuttle if free. For more on the shuttle service go to Times Union.com.


• It still hasn't been announced who will start in goal for the Dutchmen on Friday against St. Lawrence but Coach Leaman is confident that both Keith Kinkaid and Corey Milan are capable of carrying them to victory. Check out Ken Schott's article on the decision on Daily Gazette.com.


• For more about the teams in the ECAC Final Four check out Brian Sullivan's "This Week in ECAC Hockey" on USCHO.com.


• You can check out Union's ECAC Tournament Guide here.

Read my article from the Concordiensis

Check out my article about the Dutchmen heading into the playoffs from the Concordiensis, the school newspaper of Union College on Concordy.com.

Info For Students For Quarterfinals

Associate Athletic Director Beth Taimi has sent me some information on how students can attend the ECAC quarterfinals at Messa Rink in two weekends:

"the first 200 Union students with ID at the student door will be admitted for free, IF they arrive before gametime (7pm). After that time, any leftover seats will be released to the public. Students arriving after 7pm can still purchase any available tickets for $6 in the main lobby of the rink... A few RPI fans have already purchased tickets at our rink."

So, if you are a student and want to attend the game for free I suggest getting to the rink around 6:15 wearing your Union hockey gear and getting ready to get loud. Also, you can buy tickets in advance if you don't want to get to the rink too early. Union fans better drown out whatever RPI (or whoever) fans show up.

First Round of ECAC Playoffs

(12) Clarkson @ (5)SLU

(11)Brown @ (6)RPI

(10)Harvard @ (7)Quinnipiac

(9)Dartmouth @ (8)Princeton

Byes: Yale (1), Cornell (2), Union (3), Colgate (4)

For an in-depth analysis of who the Dutchmen can play in the quarterfinals of the playoffs check out Union Hockey Maniac's (aka Will Friedman) post on the USCHO.com forum.