The Rensselaer Engineers have scored the fewest
number of goals among all 12 ECACHL teams both in league
games and overall. RPI also ranks last in the league in
goals allowed. But despite those statistical rankings, the
Engineers find themselves ahead of three teams in the standings,
albeit by just one point over Brown, Union, and Yale.
ECAC
Hockey League Notebook
Matt Angers-Goulet leads RPI with just nine goals
on the season. The Engineers are in a decent position,
considering their -34 goal differential (71 scored,
105 allowed).
With a 5-9-4 ECACHL mark, RPI has 14 points.
They've done well in head-to-head games against those aforementioned
teams, all of which have 13 points. RPI split the season
series with Union, and beat Yale and Brown on the road in
late January. The Engineers also split with Princeton, the
team directly ahead of it in the standings.
"We've been pretty good in close games
all year, both in the league and out of the league. Eight
of our nine wins are by one-goal and we've also got seven
ties in there," head coach Seth Appert said.
After starting the season with somewhat surprising
success – a 4-1-3 record that included a tie against
Boston University and win at Denver – the Engineers
found some tough going. Those results, Appert admitted,
were probably due to some shaky goaltending performances
by the opponents and instilled a false confidence in his
club.
It led to a rough stretch in the middle of
their season, with just one win in 13 games. That streak
ended with a win at Union on Jan. 13 and RPI has a respectable
4-4-1 record since then. It's worth noting that the Engineers
have played well even in those four losses, with the exception
of a 6-1 loss to Cornell last weekend.
"We've played really well in the last
month and a half, and probably even better than our record
shows," Appert said. "We got back into better
habits in practice, which carry over to games, and our attention
to detail has gotten better."
RPI gets to test itself against the top two
teams in the league this weekend, with road games at St.
Lawrence and Clarkson. The Engineers' last game against
SLU, you may recall, was a 3-3 tie in the Big Red Freakout!
as the Saints overcame a 3-1 deficit late in the third period.
This weekend's games will have a huge impact
on the tightly-grouped standings in the ECACHL, setting
up some great games to decide the final position on the
final weekend, when Yale and Brown visit RPI and Union.
SEEN AND HEARD IN THE ECACHL
Two ways to go: Like most
teams in the ECAC Hockey League, Princeton can potentially
finish with a first-round bye in the playoffs, or as low
as last place. The Tigers picked up a huge win last weekend,
with a 3-0 victory over Dartmouth. That snapped a three-game
winless streak in the league.
"I think we're in the same position as
a lot of teams in this league. There are four games left
and there's a long way to go. Teams can finish with home
ice and a bye in the playoffs, or in last place," Gadowsky
said. "We're trying to get better every game because
there's a lot to play for."
One of the best stories out of Princeton is
sophomore forward Lee Jubinville. As a freshman, he scored
just 10 points in 30 games. This year he leads the team
with 22 points in 23 games.
"He may be the fastest and quickest player
I've ever coached," Gadowski said. "His increased
production is probably a reflection on his ice time. He
plays a lot because he's well-rounded and we can use him
in all situations."
Those types of players are in high demand
and Princeton landed him in the recruiting process, due
to some work done by current Ohio State assistant Jason
Lammers. Gadowsky said Jubinville is the kind of player
that is attractive to lots of teams.
"He fits the mold, because of his quickness
and competitiveness, and I'm sure that there's not a coach
in the country that wouldn't want a Lee Jubinville."
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM
OF THE BAG
Great Weekend Getaway
Quinnipiac
at Cornell (Fri.)
Princeton at Cornell (Sat.)
Friday night's game at Lynah is the one to watch as
the two teams enter the weekend third and fourth in
the standings. A win would go a long way toward locking
down a top-four finish in the league.
While You're There: Ithaca
College is hosting the Empire Collegiate Wrestling
Conference championships on Saturday, as wrestlers
from several upstate New York schools vie for bids
to the Division III nationals.
Stick
Salute
St. Lawrence
became the first team to clinch a top-four
spot in the ECACHL standings and will have
a bye in the first round of the playoffs, and home
ice for a quarterfinal series.
Bench
Minor
Harvard finished the Beanpot with two
losses, and coach Ted Donato questioned
the importance of the consolation game. If the
tournament has such strong tradition and regional
importance, which we're led to believe in pre-tournament
hype, the consolation game should also be
treated with the utmost respect.
• Even though Yale is in a three-way
tie for last place in the ECAC Hockey League, it certainly
has something worthwhile to play for this weekend. Wins
over Harvard and Dartmouth would guarantee the Bulldogs
at least a share of the Ivy League title and make it possible
for them to win the title outright.
• St. Lawrence's Drew Bagnall was a
sixth-round draft pick of the Dallas Stars in the 2003 NHL
Entry Draft, but his rights were traded from Dallas to Florida
in March of 2004, when the Stars acquired Valeri Bure. Bagnall
was flattered that another team was interested in him, and
shared this anecdote about how he heard the news: "I
found out about it through friends back home. The boys were
at the bar and it was pretty late, but they said they saw
it on the ticker and called me," Bagnall said. "It
was the day of a game, or the day before a game, and I thought
they were joking around."
• Harvard lost twice in the Beanpot,
but carries a four-game unbeaten streak in league games
(3-0-1) into this weekend's tilts at Yale and Brown.
• Since dropping two games at Niagara,
Quinnipiac has won three straight non-league games, all
against Atlantic Hockey opposition. The Bobcats have beaten
Holy Cross 7-0, Bentley 6-1, and American International
8-1 for a three-game aggregate of 21-2.
• The Dartmouth vs. Yale contest is
a 4 p.m. game on Sunday, and can be seen on ESPN U.
• With 34 points already this season,
Union forward T.J. Fox has already amassed the highest single-season
point total for a Dutchmen player since Jordan Webb and
Joel Beal shared the team scoring lead with 37 points in
the 2002-03 season.
• Brown's Brian McNary has a three-game
point streak and is tied for second on the team in scoring,
with 18 points this year.
• Clarkson scored five goals in each
of its wins last week, and eight players lit the lamp over
the weekend. Shawn Weller was the only player with more
than one goal – he had three – and was named
ECACHL Player of the Week.
• Colgate's Mark Dekanich is heating
up as the season winds down. He has a 1.85 goals-against
average and .941 save percentage in the Raiders' last eight
games.
A variety of sources were utilized in
the compilation of this report. Joe Gladziszewski can be
reached at gladdy@insidecollegehockey.com.
