December 29, 2008
2008-09 Atlantic Hockey Midseason Review

By Ken McMillan

SURPRISE TEAM

It's been a couple of tough seasons for Canisius in the transition to a new coach but Dave Smith's efforts are finally starting to pay off in his fourth year at the helm. The Golden Griffins are one of only two Atlantic Hockey teams to stand above .500 at Christmas. The team has raised its scoring production by 0.37 goals per game and lowered its goals against by 0.74. Penalty killing has improved by 166 percentage points. Canisius has already doubled its road wins total from last season, and needed just 15 games to produce seven wins, a mark that needed 23 contests to achieve last season. The Griffs have already produced a win at Ferris State of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and a tie with Merrimack of Hockey East. Canisius has a favorable schedule over the next two months and should stay in contention for a top playoff spot and first-round bye.

SURPRISE INDIVIDUAL

RIT defenseman Dan Ringwald leads his team in scoring, and the Tigers are the only team in Atlantic Hockey to beat first-place Air Force this season.

Steve Cameron of Mercyhurst has already matched his goal production (11) by the New Year. He has scored in five of 11 Atlantic Hockey contests thus far and has points in nine league games. Cameron has no problem playing on the road with nine of his goals coming outside of Erie – he had a six-point night at American International and three points in a tourney contest in Alaska.

WHAT HAPPENED TO ...

Army goalie Josh Kassel was sprung upon us two seasons ago as the replacement for all-star Brad Roberts. With barely any collegiate experience, Kassel backstopped the Black Knights to 17 wins and a berth in the Atlantic Hockey finals. Last season was even better with 18 victories, a regular-season championship and a stunning goals against of 1.92 – for his efforts, Kassel was named an All-American.

It's been a much tougher go around for his senior year. Kassel's goals against has ballooned to 4.12 and his save percentage has plummeted 64 points to .861. In his defense, Army lost 12 seniors, including four from the blue line, and opponents are getting off six shots more per game.

It's also been a rough start for Sacred Heart's Bear Trapp. The senior forward has only three goals and five assists through 17 games – those production numbers have been met by mid-November in his first three seasons. Trapp was on pace to break career scoring marks in Atlantic Hockey but he would need almost 1 ½ points per game to do so.

BEST NEW FACE

Dave Kostuch of Canisius had no problem acclimating to life in Atlantic Hockey. The forward is the leading point producer among freshmen with 16. He has scored eight goals in six league contests thus far. At this pace Kostuch may challenge the 34 points that Canisius rookie Josh Heidinger put up in 2006-07. The Richmond Hill, Ont., product was named the Hockey Commissioners Association and Atlantic Hockey rookie of the month for October.

BIGGEST UPSET

Mercyhurst was only 3-8-1 and just coming out of a paralyzing 1-8 start when the Lakers headed for the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament. Mercyhurst knocked off struggling RPI 4-1 in the opening round to earn a title game matchup with No. 7 Princeton. In one of the more wild college hockey games of the season, Mercyhurst stormed to a 4-0 lead on all-star Zane Kalemba, watched as the Tigers scored four times in the third period to tie the game and then rebounded to score twice in the final 90 seconds to pull off the upset win.

The best win over a ranked opponent was Air Force's solid 4-1 triumph over No. 3 Colorado College for its 13th victory to open the season, but considering the Falcons are a fringe top-10 team, the upset factor is not as high.

Credit also must go out to Canisius for posting a 5-2 win at Ferris State, a team that sits in the middle of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Atlantic Hockey is only 10-36-3 outside of league play.

TOUGHEST ROAD OUT

Sacred Heart fell out of the gate hard, no thanks to a schedule that called for playing three Atlantic Hockey semifinalists in the first four weeks, a pair at No. 4 Notre Dame and having run headlong into this season's buzzsaw, otherwise known as Air Force, four times, losing all four meetings. Tack on a pre-Christmas trip to No. 9 Colorado College (tie and a loss), and you can be sure the Pioneers were thrilled that the holiday break finally arrived. Sacred Heart still has to make three bus trips to the western side of the circuit but the second-half slate is more forgiving with the second-easiest schedule (by win-loss percentage) in the league and eight of 17 games at home.

Army wasn't helped with a schedule that called for 11 of the first 14 games on the road – plus two upcoming holiday tournaments on the road. However, the Black Knights will not be helped as much in the second half with the league's second-toughest schedule, featuring trips to the Ohio Classic and two games at Air Force.

TOUGHEST ROAD IN

Holy Cross plays 11 of its final 17 games on the road, and has a two-week stretch in February when the Crusaders host Rochester Institute of Technology for a pair and then travel to Air Force for two games. Toss in a New Year's tourney in Colorado where Holy Cross faces nationally ranked Denver (and either Boston University or RPI) and add a home game with ECAC third-place squad Dartmouth, and you can see the challenge facing the Crusaders.

Mercyhurst may have the easiest finish with 10 home games, including eight in a row from Jan. 16 to Feb. 6.

MUST-SEE SERIES

If Air Force hasn't clinched the top seed by the end of February, it's likely a two-game set at Rochester Institute of Technology on Feb. 27-28 will determine matters. The newest members of Atlantic Hockey have always rolled out entertaining matchups with the exception of the Falcons' 5-0 rout in the 2008 playoff semifinals.

BIGGEST QUESTION ANSWERED

Is Air Force for real? Surely. The Falcons lost just six players from last season's championship squad and appear to have filled the holes quite sufficiently. Air Force has one of the deepest lineups in the league and certainly the top netminder in Andrew Volkening. Barring injury, there is no reason to expect the Falcons to slow down any time soon. The toughest part of the Falcons' schedule is behind them, but it's never easy having to travel to the East coast so often, with five of eight trips remaining.

BIGGEST QUESTION REMAINING

Can anyone challenge Air Force for the league title and NCAA berth? Yes. Rochester Institute of Technology has played Air Force tough in almost every meeting, and earned a hard-fought victory in early December for the Falcons' first league loss. Don't forget Mercyhurst took Air Force to double overtime in the 2008 Atlantic Hockey finale, and the Lakers appear to have their ship in order – a two-game set in Erie on Jan. 30-31 could be telling.