October
19, 2006
Colgate
Knows It Needs To Get Better
By
Joe Gladziszewski
Don't
think that back-to-back wins by the Colgate Raiders has
them doing cartwheels in the hallways of Starr Rink. A 2-1
neutral site win over Niagara and a 5-1 win over Bentley
evened Colgate's record at 2-2-0 on the year.
ECAC
Hockey League Notebook
Marc
Fulton had five points in a 5-1 win over Bentley.
That win might help Colgate find its stride early
in the season.
But it hasn't been the start to the season
that the Raiders imagined all summer long. Colgate lost
both of its games at the Ice Breaker Invitational in its
opening weekend, and then escaped Rochester's Blue Cross
Arena with a 2-1 win over Niagara. Colgate scored twice
in the first period and was outplayed and out-chanced over
the final 40 minutes. Niagara missed a couple of wide-open
scoring opportunities from the edge of the goal crease by
shooting the puck wide.
The school that was picked by both media and
coaches to win the ECAC Hockey League hasn't looked like
that a team in the early stages of this season. But getting
through the first two weeks of the season with a .500 record
despite not playing very well is a sign of a team that has
a lot of upside.
"We just have to keep working. I think
maybe some of our guys got caught up a little bit in some
of the preseason hype and you forget about what it takes,"
Vaughan said. "Every game is a big game and we've got
to find a way to compete every shift. We're not as deep
up front as people might think. We're playing some freshmen
in some pretty critical situations but they're learning
pretty quickly."
Freshmen forwards David McIntyre, Jason Williams,
and Ethan Cox have taken on most of that ice time and are
still adjusting to college hockey. McIntyre had four points
last week and was named ECACHL Rookie of the Week. They've
got a lot to do to replace excellent forwards like Jon Smyth,
Kyle Wilson, and Ryan Smyth that Colgate graduated last
spring.
Their departure left new players to take on
a leadership role, including senior captain Liam Huculak.
"It's not the start we wanted but we
know we're a good team," Huculak said. "We are
displeased with the start of our season. We all know we
need to focus on working harder. Everyone's got that in
their head and I think that's what we need to do."
Another factor that has affected Colgate's
early-season fortunes is the temporary loss of center Jesse
Winchester. He finished fourth on the team in scoring last
year and was a key part of a great line for Colgate with
Marc Fulton and Dustin Gillanders. They play a strong supporting
role when opponents focus on stopping Tyler Burton.
Winchester should return to the lineup in
a couple of weeks, but his linemate for most of last season
and the early part of this season didn't seem to miss him.
Fulton had a hat trick and scored five points as Colgate
defeated Bentley 5-1 on Sunday. Fulton's big day came alongside
Tom Riley, who was slotted into Winchester's vacant spot
and picked up a pair of assists.
Even though Colgate hasn't played its best
hockey, the Raiders haven't dug themselves a huge hole.
They'll host Canisius on Tuesday night in their next game.
"We'll take it," Vaughan said after
Colgate defeated Niagara. "It's hard to win and at
the end of the year that 2-1 win will look pretty good."
SEEN AND HEARD IN THE ECACHL
Return to Denver: It's not
the Elvis Presley classic, but it's what's going on in Rensselaer
this weekend. And the address is not unknown to head coach
Seth Appert as he brings the Engineers to the University
of Denver and a matchup with the 2004 and 2005 national
champion Pioneers. Appert knows the opposing players and
coaching staff very well, as he was a part of the DU staff
just months ago.
He is now taking the opportunity to re-energize
a proud program at RPI and is off to a good start in doing
just that. The excitement level is high in Troy, N.Y., based
on the attendance (the game was sold out) and feedback following
RPI's 4-4 tie against Boston University last weekend. Houston
Fieldhouse was full and RPI jumped out to a 3-1 lead in
the first period. Appert was pleased with how his team played,
but knows that it's just the beginning of a long process.
Clarkson is Clicking: The
Clarkson Golden Knights went on the road and convincingly
defeated Providence 6-1. The only blemish on their 3-0-1
record is a tie at UMass in the Mullins Center. But taking
a win and a tie on the road was a big step for Clarkson,
which struggled greatly in road games last season. The victory
over Providence snapped a 13-game road losing streak that
lasted through the final three months of the 2005-06 season.
The most impressive statistic for Clarkson
thus far is that they don't have many impressive statistics.
The Golden Knights are averaging 5.0 goals per game this
year and the team's scoring leader has just six points.
Twelve different Clarkson players have scored at least once
this year, and talented offensive players like Shawn Weller
and Shea Guthrie have yet to hit their stride. With consistent
goaltending, Clarkson could make an impact not only in the
league, but also at the national level.
We'll get to find out how good the Golden
Knights are when they open conference play Nov. 3-4 at Harvard
and Dartmouth.
Great Weekend Getaway
Lake
Superior State at Clarkson (Fri.-Sat.) Former Clarkson assistant Jim Roque is now
the head coach of the Lakers and knows his way around
Cheel Arena. He was an assistant for six seasons there
and was a candidate for the head coaching job when
George Roll was hired. Both head coaches are turning
their teams in a positive direction and this matchup
is a good early-season test for both.
While You’re There: Clarkson's
Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
will present a seminar titled, "Thermal Spraying
for Coating or Diffusion Bonding of Ti Alloys,"
which might be useful to golfers looking to refresh
the titanium faces on their drivers. It's Friday afternoon
on campus, and we can't think of a more exciting way
to get ready for a hockey weekend.
Stick
Salute
One
of the best mascots in college hockey is RPI's beloved
Puckman. But we wonder, how does he see? We can only
think that he might have a tracking device embedded
within himself, and that would make him the offspring
of FOX television's Glow Puck from the mid-1990s.
Bench
Minor
Dear Ivy
League Teams:
It happens every year at this time.
We wait for you to come out and play with the rest
of us. And there's nothing you can do about it, we
understand. But we miss you when you're not with us.
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Sincerely,
The ECACHL
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM
OF THE BAG
• Colgate will likely be the next ECAC
Hockey League team to get a new rink. It's in the early
stages right now, but the university has contracted Cannon
Design to begin developing a plan for a new hockey facility.
Cannon Design is the same firm that designed Boston University's
Agganis Arena and also built a new facility at Division
III SUNY-Oswego, which opens this weekend.
• Ivy League teams take the ice for
exhibition contests this weekend. Princeton starts things
off on Friday by hosting McGill. Saturday's games include
Trois-Rivieres at Brown, York at Cornell, and McGill takes
on Yale one night after their match against Princeton. (Does
McGill have a travel partner?) Finally, Dartmouth hosts
Quebec and Harvard hosts Price Edward Island on Sunday.
The Big Green and Crimson opponents are Canadian universities,
not the entire provinces.
• Quinnipiac picked up two wins over
Robert Morris after dropping their opening games at North
Dakota. In the weekend sweep of RMU, the Bobcats allowed
just two goals. Sophomore Bud Fisher had 69 saves in the
two contests and was named ECACHL Goalie of the Week.
• Only one other team in the league
joins Clarkson as being undefeated through two or more games
... and that team is Union. The Dutchmen had 49 shots on
goal but only got a 2-2 tie against RIT in the home opener
for the Dutchmen last weekend. T.J. Fox and Augie DiMarzo
had the goals for Union.
• St. Lawrence has this weekend off
to get things back on track after suffering consecutive
losses to Niagara and Providence. The Saints will travel
to nationally-ranked Michigan State on Oct. 27 and then
play at Wayne State on Oct. 28.
• Byron Bitz was named the Cornell captain
for the 2006-07 season.
• Jeff Prough and Sean Dersch each scored
twice in Brown's intrasquad scrimmage. Dersch is the team's
captain this year.
• Princeton's roster is loaded with
veterans, as there are nine seniors and 10 juniors comprising
the 27-man roster.
A variety of sources were utilized in
the compilation of this report
One
of the best mascots in college hockey is RPI's beloved
Puckman. But we wonder, how does he see? We can only
think that he might have a tracking device embedded
within himself, and that would make him the offspring
of FOX television's Glow Puck from the mid-1990s.