October
21, 2004
Everyone Knows Colgate
By
Joe Gladziszewski
The
Colgate Raiders begin the 2004-05 season under a much different
set of circumstances than those they faced at the same time
last year.
Turning the clock back 12 months, the Raiders were a team
with an interim coach, without a notable name on the roster,
and predicted to finish in the bottom half of the ECAC Hockey
League standings.
Anonymity prevailed in Hamilton, N.Y., and Colgate embraced
its position among the game's also-rans. Unheralded players
turned in all-league performances and the team rallied around
stand-in coach Stan Moore to capture the ECACHL regular-season
championship. With that success comes a change in standing
in college hockey's caste system. Colgate finds itself ranked
in the national polls and expected to make a run at another
ECACHL title.
Don
Vaughan is back behind the bench and his those previously
unknown players have made names for themselves, including
goaltender Steve Silverthorn, defenseman Mike Campaner,
and forwards Jon Smyth and Adam Mitchell.
This
time around the Raiders won't be sneaking up on any opponents.
Now, they're the team that other lesser-known teams will
be looking to take down. It's a role that Colgate is embracing.
Last year's success is a step toward bigger things.
"It's
been different this year," said Darryl McKinnon, one
of Raider tri-captains. "Last year we thought we could
be a good team and were hoping to make a run. Now we know
that we can go out and play with anybody."
Brimming
with confidence and motivated by last year's near-miss in
qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, Colgate is off to a
perfect 4-0-0 start. Ties and losses early last year kept
Colgate out of the NCAAs and the Raiders are making it a
priority to not let any chances slip away this time around.
They've started the year with series sweeps of CCHA opponents
Ferris State and Lake Superior State.
"They've
challenged themselves," Vaughan said. "They clearly
want to win a championship and are disappointed with the
way things finished last year. They've challenged themselves
to be focused every week."
As
Colgate heads into the season, things have certainly changed.
But the experience, maturity, and confidence gained over
the last 12 months could point to a similar ending –
with the Raiders chasing an ECACHL title and NCAA tournament
berth
SEEN
AND HEARD IN THE ECACHL
Saints
Tested Early – The St. Lawrence Saints travel
to Orono, Maine, this weekend to face the Maine Black Bears.
That's a daunting challenge for any team and one of the
toughest road trips in college hockey, but don't be surprised
to find out that the Saints are unfazed by the trip. They've
already been there and done that.
SLU
opened its season at the Ice Breaker in Durham, N.H. with
a tie against St. Cloud State and a loss against host New
Hampshire. Then, the Saints went to take on the top teams
in the CCHA and knocked off Michigan State before losing
to Michigan at Yost Ice Arena.
"Everybody
on the team's believing right now," standout sophomore
defenseman Drew Bagnall said. "Coach Marsh doesn't
do this because he wants us to lose. He does it because
he thinks we can win and so that we get into the postseason
and we know what it takes to win in the playoffs."
Mike
McKenna was named the ECACHL's Goalie of the Week after
making
37 saves against Michigan State. He stopped 14 shots during
Spartan power plays, as the Saints held Michigan State without
a goal in 11 power-play chances.
The
win over Michigan State wasn't without a dose of bad news
as Bagnall suffered a knee injury in the third period. He
missed the Saturday contest at Michigan, a 5-2 loss. Backup
goaltender Kevin Ackley is also banged up and might miss
the year and seek a medical redshirt.
Hitchcock
Helps Princeton – Once the labor situation
in the NHL is settled, wouldn't it be great if we could
get all of the NHL players and coaches to write essays similar
to those "What I did during my summer vacation"
stories we wrote in elementary school? If we were to get
our hands on such essays, the one crafted by Philadelphia
Flyers head coach Ken Hitchcock would include some anecdotes
on helping the Princeton Tigers.
Hitchcock,
a veteran NHL coach, has also coached at the international
level and developed his reputation in coaching circles by
heading the Kamloops Blazers in the Western Hockey League.
His ties to Princeton come through new Princeton head coach
Guy Gadowsky, who has known Hitchcock through the years
as both are natives of the Edmonton area.
When
Hitchcock's calendar cleared up Gadowsky called his old
friend to talk about hockey, and the two came to an agreement
for Hitchcock to help out at Princeton. There was no word
as to whether or not Hitchcock would share his coaching
secrets on how to score important goals with a player's
skate in the crease.
FRIES
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
|
Great Weekend Getaway |
 |
| Bowling
Green at Union (Fri.-Sat.): The
second year of Nate Leaman's tenure as Union's head
coach began with a pair of 4-2 losses at Colorado
College last week. Now, the Dutchmen are back at home
and host CCHA foe Bowling Green in a matchup of two
programs looking to continue their recent improvement.
While
you're there: After the games, make the short drive
from Schenectady to downtown Albany and visit the
vast number of college-hockey friendly bars near Pepsi
Arena. The Big House is one of INCH's favorite watering
holes. |
| Stick
Salute |
Good
job by Colgate and Rensselaer for
getting off to fast starts this year. Colgate's perfect
in four games. RPI bounced back from a season-opening
loss to Merrimack with a tie and two wins, including
Tuesday's 7-4 win at Northeastern.
|
| Bench
Minor |
| I
know there's been plenty of talk on INCH about the
ALCS, but here's another observation. Seeing the fans
at Yankee Stadium throw all sorts of debris onto the
playing field during Game 6 on Tuesday night
reminded me of Lynah Rink. |
•
This weekend's schedule includes exhibition games
for five of the six Ivy League members of the ECACHL.
Brown is the only one of the Ivies not to have a game scheduled.
They'll start on Oct. 29 against Harvard.
•
Michigan State athletic director and St. Lawrence
alum Ron Mason, he of the more than 900 wins as
a Division I hockey coach, stopped by the Saints dressing
room at Munn last week and wished the team well for the
remainder of the season.
• Clarkson (finally) picked up its first win
of the year by defeating Wayne State 5-3 on Sunday.
The Golden Knights lost their first three games of the year.
In Sunday's win, Mac Faulkner scored twice in the third
period as Clarkson came from behind to win. In the 19 Clarkson
games in which Mac Faulkner has scored in his career, the
Golden Knights are 17-0-2.
• In case you missed it, Harvard coach Ted
Donato joined INCH for a chat Thursday at ESPN.com.
Donato addressed the challenges he's facing as a new coach,
spoke about some of his players, and his anticipation for
the Beanpot later this year.
•
There's no question that Vermont leads the league
in one category – in-game promotions. When
the Catamounts host Niagara this weekend, Friday is Student
Appreciation Night and Saturday is Support Our Troops Night.
•
Colgate's 4-0-0 start is its best since
beginning the 1990 season with a 4-0-1 mark.
A
variety of sources were utilized in the compilation of this
report.
