16 Dutchmen named to ECAC All-Academic Team

The ECAC announced today that 181 student-athletes have been named to the ECAC All-Academic team. 16 of the 181 players are from Union. These Dutchmen are: freshman Jean Sebastian Bergeron, junior Stephane Boileau, junior Andrew Buote, sophomore (technically a junior since he red-shirted) Luke Cain, senior Jeff Christiansen, sophomore Nolan Julseth-White, senior Jon Lareau, junior captain Brock Matheson, junior Justin Pallos, sophomore Taylor Reid, senior Jason Shaffer, junior John Simpson, freshman Wayne Simpson, freshman Shawn Stuart, senior captain Mike Wakita, and freshman Jeremy Welsh.

Over half of these guys are Economics majors, which is pretty impressive to me. I took Economics 101 freshman year... and let's just say it wasn't my best class.

To be eligible for the All-Academic team one must obtain a 3.0 GPA.

Congratulations to the 16 Dutchmen and the other 165 ECAC players. The ECAC is by far the most challenging league academically in college hockey. Each team in the ECAC had at least 13 All-Academic selections, except for Clarkson who only had four (weird?).

For more check out ECAC Hockey.com and Union Athletics.com.

Dutchmen to play in Brice Alaska Goal Rush

The University of Alaska - Anchorage released their 2010-11 schedule today. According to the schedule they will be playing in the Brice Alaska Goal Rush along with Colorado College, Union College, and host University of Alaska - Fairbanks. According to the schedule the Seawolves will be playing the Tigers on Friday, and the Dutchmen on Saturday, October 16. So, it looks like the Dutchmen will be playing the Nanooks on that Friday. You can check out the schedule release on Go Seawolves.com.

This should be a good opportunity for the Dutchmen to play out of conference teams. Last season Alaska - Fairbanks finished one spot behind the Dutchmen in the USCHO.com poll and Colordado College was only a few spots behind them. This tournament, along with the Minnesota tournament is a MAJOR UPGRADE from the tournaments Union played in last season (RPI tournament and UConn tournament). This is a product of last seasons' success and the respect they gained. Sadly, this is just one year too late for Eagle River, Alaska (near Anchorage) native Jason Shaffer who is graduating in June.

BU players make awful rap

For those of you that don't know three Boston University hockey players (Victor Saponari, Vinny Saponari, and Corey Trivino) have got into some trouble lately for some violation of team rules. See what they did and what happened to them here.

After doing some research I found an interesting rap video titled "Party Like a Puckstar" that Vinny Saponari and Corey Trivino supposedly made. I'm not sure if they got in trouble for making it, but it's so poorly made that they should be kicked off the team. It might be the worst rap I've ever heard. I guess they were responding to Boston College's "Beanpot Trot" from 1986.

Let's just hope our Dutchmen don't try to put together any musical numbers or videos (even though Jason Shaffer is a pretty decent DJ).

Union lives to see tomorrow

Thanks to two goals by Adam Presizniuk and 27 saves by Corey Milan, the Dutchmen topped Quinnipiac 3-1. Luke Cain scored Union's second goal which was the eventual game-winner.

It was a very solid game all across the board. Union was able to get some good offensive pressure and played good team defense. Also, Milan made the stops he needed to make while the Union defense didn't allow many great scoring opportunities.

Due to last night's epic affair John Simpson, Kyle Bodie, and Stephane Boileau were not dressed in favor of Justin Pallos (who assisted on the game-winning goal), Brian Yanovitch, and Jason Shaffer. Yanovitch looked especially good tonight. I wonder if Leaman will stick with this winning formula tomorrow.

I got to watch the game from Section Q for the first time in a long, long time. It was a lot of fun and the students were very loud and in to it.

Tomorrow night is win or go home, so it should be a very emotional and exciting game. This is the last game at Messa Rink for the seniors so expect them to step up in a big way. Also, if the Dutchmen win they will head to the ECAC Final Four for the first time in program history. This year is the last time the final four will be held in Albany.

For more on the game check out Union Athletics.com, USCHO.com, Times Union.com (Mark McGuire), Ken Schott's Blog, and Troy Record.com.

Also, Cornell topped Harvard and St. Lawrence beat Colgate to clinch a berth to the ECAC Final Four, while Yale bounced back and scored six goals against Brown to force Game 3 tomorrow.

Seniors key on Senior Night in 7-3 win over QU

No one could have scripted last night's game any better. It had the perfect storyline and the perfect ending. You knew this was going to be a memorable night from the moment when five seniors were announced in the starting lineup to having the senior class honored at the end of the game. There were so many moments in the game that would get the sports fan choked up:

• Senior Jeff Christiansen, who hadn't played a game in about 13 months got to dress and play on the checking line. But, not only did he play he scored a big goal and assisted on another. Christo deserves a lot of credit for sticking with the team for four years, and for working hard throughout his time with the Dutchmen. As soon as he scored Union's third goal I instantly thought of Rudy. What a way for the senior to go out.


• Christo's linemate Jason Shaffer also had a big night as he netted the game-winning goal and also had an assist. Shaffer has been used sparingly this season, so it was nice to see his name get announced in the starting lineup and score his first goal of the season with his mother in attendance, who I assume traveled all the way from Alaska.


• Six out of the seven senior skaters registered at least one point. Captain Mike Wakita was the only one not to tally a point, but he did plenty of things on the ice that you don't see on the scoresheet, including his bone crushing hits. Also, five of them recorded two points.


• While QU's Eric Lampe was making a fool out of himself by trying to fight Jason Walters, 'Super' Mario shoved it in Lampe's face by sniping a goal.


• Senior netminder Rich Sillery got to play the final two minutes of the game in front of his family. Sillery is in the same boat as Christiansen as he has not played much throughout his career. It was awesome how the fans reacted when he was put into the game. It must have been a special moment for him to have his name chanted and everything. But, next time Pudge remember to have a chin strap on your helmet haha.


• Senior Jon Lareau picked up two assists on the night. He along with the combination of Christo and Shaffer was probably the best Union line of the night.


• The post-game ceremonies were very nice. The funniest part was when Mike Schreiber sprinted towards his mother who was jumping up and down on the carpet laid down on the ice. It was also great that Schreiber and Wakita thanked basically everyone that has to do with Union Hockey. The ceremony was all wrapped up when Union Hockey's #1 fan Will Friedman (aka Union Hockey Maniac for those of you on the USCHO.com forums), who is also a senior, started a "Let's Go Seniors" chant. I personally feel Will should have been honored in some way as he has been the most dedicated Dutchmen fan by far throughout his four years. He has traveled to almost every rink in the ECAC and has helped promote the home games and sell the 7th Player t-shirts. When I ran into Will at the end of the game I asked him why he wasn't at his fraternity's formal. He responded by saying something like, "some things are just more important" (or something like that).


• By far the cutest moment of the night was while the seniors were taking a group photo together, Mario left the picture and went into the penalty box/ scorers box. I have no idea how he knew this, but a little girl was waiting for him there with a hand drawn picture of him. Mario gladly signed the picture along with other autographs and took pictures with some young fans. This will be a moment this little girl will never forget. I know this because I still have autographs and pictures in my room from my days watching Army Hockey as a young kid. I also still wear the number (#15 ironically) of my first favorite Army Hockey player, Ian Winer.

Well, I'm done with the cute stuff and on to some meaner stuff because I thoroughly dislike the Quinnipiac Bobcats. I have always held a grudge against them since my freshman year because my girlfriend goes there. But, after watching the Bobcats for the past three seasons I have come to hate their brand of hockey. I hate them even more after Eric Lampe's actions last night. Seriously, what a moron. Once Lampe challenged the Union bench I just wanted to see Wakita jump off the bench and knock him out cold. I feel that the Bobcats are a gutless, self-centered team. It seems that all they want to do out there is dangle and make the big hit. Basically, it seems that they're just having a tryout for the minors. I don't understand how a team with seniors as talented as Brandon Wong, Greg Holt, Mike Atkinson, Lampe, and Jean-Marc Beaudoin can just settle for mediocrity. The Bobcats should have a Top 5 offense with this group. It wouldn't surprise me to see this team drop out of the Top 8 in the ECAC next weekend and get swept in the first round of the playoffs.

Now back to some hockey stuff. With last night's win the Dutchmen can't finish any worse than third in the ECAC. They are now tied with Cornell for second place after their surprising loss to Dartmouth last night, which makes Friday's game that more important. The Dutchmen still only trail Yale by two points for top spot in the ECAC as well. As everyone predicted, next weekends games will be the most important of the season. Also, look out for some more records to be broken next weekend.

Also, the Union Club Hockey team had their own Senior Night on Saturday afternoon at Messa Rink at 2pm. The Club Dutchmen beat rival RPI 3-2 to close out their season. Seniors Anthony Savaglio (captain) and Greg Karamian (club president) assisted on senior Alex Kenyon's game-winning goal with about eight minutes remaining in regulation.

For more on Senior Night check out Union Athletics.com, Daily Gazette.com, Times Union.com, USCHO.com, Ken Schott's Blog, and Ken Schott's video.

Well, that's all from me. I can't wait to be back at Messa Rink in three weekends for the playoffs!

Max Novak commits to Union

According to Chris Heisenberg, forward Max Novak has committed to join the Dutchmen. Novak currently plays for The Hill School. I don't know much about this guy, but ADK11 from the USCHO.com forum gives a good assessment on him:

"Max is from New Jersey and is in his second season at The Hill. He is the team's 2nd leading scorer with 50 points in 24 games and was Hill's leading scorer last season with 47 points in 29 games. It look like he played youth/HS hockey in NJ prior to going prep. Don't see where he was invited to any USA national festivals, etc. The Hill is what I would call a second teir Prep team and mostly doesn't play the top NE Prep teams. According to USHR, Max is very fast, 'has a second gear' and is a good playmaker & finisher (currently has 25 goals in 24 games). Is projected to do a year of juniors next season and matriculate in '11, though USHR says there is 'a slight chance' may come next season."

Sounds like Novak could be a depth guy for the offense, maybe a Jason Shaffer type.

Also, there has been a rumor on the USCHO.com forum that Stephane Boileau might not return next season and head to med school. I haven't heard about this, so I don't know what to think about it. The thing I'm wondering about is that since Stephane is a junior wouldn't he have to finish his senior year before heading to med school? Please comment if you have any more information on this.

Coburn to miss time with injury

According to Ken Schott, freshman defenseman Greg Coburn got hurt in today's practice and will miss a significant amount of time (possibly the rest of the regular season and playoffs). He suffered a lower-body injury after being tangled up with senior forward Jason Shaffer in today's practice. This is a huge blow for the Dutchmen as Coburn has been a very solid defenseman this season and has also helped on the offensive side of the puck. Coburn has tallied two goals and 14 assists this season. His 14 assists and 16 points is second most for Union defenseman this season (Mike Schreiber has eight goals, 18 assists, and 26 points). Defensemen like sophomore Nolan Julseth-White and freshman Ryan Forgaard will now have to step up and produce every game.

UPDATE: Ken Schott reports that Coburn has not torn anything in his hip and has just dislocated it. He will be out for the remainder of the regular season, and could return for the playoffs.

Also, RPI goaltender Allen York is doubtful for this weekend.

Union takes on U.S. Under-18 team on Friday in charity exhibition game

This game is an exhibition game meaning it will not count towards the standings and will have no effect on the team's unbeaten streak or on Coach Leaman's 100th win. It should be a friendly match for a good cause (Toys for Tots). For more information on the even click here.

According to the team roster there is only one player committed to a ECAC school. This is Andy Iles a goaltender from Ithaca, New York who is committed to his home town team, Cornell. He is listed as 5' 8" so I'm guessing he relies on his quickness. All of the other players on the roster are committed to nine different schools: Cornell, Michigan, Boston University, Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Boston College, and Denver. This should be a great showcase for future NCAA stars. For more info on the US U-18 Team check out their website here.

Hopefully Coach Leaman will play some guys who haven't played much or at all this season, and I expect that he will. We have still yet to see freshmen defenseman Jean-Sebastian Bergeron and redshirt freshman defenseman Carl Ekstrom in Dutchmen uniforms. I have still heard no word if Ekstrom has overcome his hip injury. It should be interesting to see what this Swede is made of. We also haven't seen sophomore defenseman Taylor Reid this season after he played four games last season.

I assume Keith Kinkaid will sit while junior Corey Milan and senior Rich Sillery will get some time in net. Sillery hasn't seen any playing time this season and only played twice (one start) last season. This should also give Leaman a chance to rest his stars before the UConn Tournament and feature players that haven't seen much ice this year like forwards Justin Pallos, Luke Cain, Jason Shaffer, and defenseman Nolan Julseth-White. These are all very effective players and I expect them to be impressive against the U-18 team. Personally, I am a huge fan of Jason Shaffer as he is one of the fastest guys on the team and flies all over the ice when he plays. All in all, this should be a fun game for a good cause.

No games this weekend, Finals Week

For those of you who don't know today (Thursday) is the beginning of Finals Week at Union, which is the reason (I assume) that the Dutch will not have any games this weekend. The Fall 09 finals last from Thursday to next Tuesday.

Last season 11 current Dutchmen (14 if you include Potts, Caffaro, and Cook) made the ECAC All- Academic Team: Stephane Boileau, Andrew Buote, Luke Cain, Jeff Christansen, Nolan Julseth-White, Jon Lareau, Brock Matheson, Justin Pallos, Taylor Reid, Jason Shaffer, and John Simpson.

Good Luck to all the players and the rest of the student body!

Union 3, Brown 3

Schreiber scores twice including the game-tying goal with 6:39 left in regulation.
I'm pretty 50/50 on what to think about the game. On one hand the Dutchmen only earned one point at home against last season's worst ECAC team. Also, letting up two cheap shorthanded goals within a few minutes is pretty pathetic. But, it was nice to see the team come back to tie the game, and see the penalty kill shutdown the Bears power-play unit. This just makes tomorrow's game that much more important.

Other notes from the game:

• Presizniuk switched lines as he moved from playing with Walters and Valery-Trabucco to playing with the Simpson brothers. Leaman said that he is trying to find a right fit for Presizniuk and the Simpson line might be a good fit.
• Along with this Leaman is trying to find someone to play with Walters and Valery-Trabucco. Tonight it was Welsh, who brings size to the line. Leaman also said that Yanovitch, who was benched tonight, could fit in nicely into that line because he is a great shooter.
• Senior Jason Shaffer played tonight and played very well, and was praised by Leaman in the post-game press conference. Personally, I think Shaffer should play more. Everytime I see him he is always making nice plays and causing some havoc on the offensive side of the puck. Leaman said he was unsure if he could sit down Shaffer and Jon Lareau after their performance tonight.
• Leaman also said that each Yanovitch and Boileau will return to the lineup tomorrow against Yale
  
  Here's my recap from USCHO.com: http://www.uscho.com/recaps/20092010/m/11/06/bn-uc.php