December
27, 2004
Florida College Classic
Germain
Arena • Estero, Fla.
THE
FIELD
Tuesday,
December 28
St. Cloud State vs. Maine, 4 p.m. ET
Boston College vs. Cornell, 7:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday,
December 29
Consolation game, 4 p.m. ET
Championship, 7 p.m. ET
LAST
YEAR
Cornell
won the tournament championship with a 4-0 semifinal win over
Notre Dame and a 4-3 overtime win over Ohio State. It was the
first tournament title for the Big Red in the four years of the
Everblades College Classic.
INTERESTING
HISTORICAL FACT
Should Maine
and Cornell meet in the tournament finals, it will be a rematch
of the championship game from the inaugural edition of this tournament,
which saw the Black Bears win the Ned Harkness Cup with a 2-1
win in 2000. Maine and Cornell have participated in all five of
these tournaments.
WHO
TO WATCH
With
three of four teams nationally ranked and WCHA rep St. Cloud State
rounding out the field, the Florida College Classic features the
strongest field of the holiday tournaments. As is the case with
any successful team, it starts with goaltending.
Maine
goalie Jimmy Howard was a second team All-America selection last
year and has a 2.25 goals-against average entering the tournament.
Derek Damon and Jon Jankus lead the team in scoring.
St.
Cloud State goalie Tim Boron recently earned WCHA Defensive Player
of the Week honors after a great weekend against top-ranked Minnesota.
He’s emerged as the number-one option in net for Craig Dahl’s
Huskies. Senior forwards Dave Iannazzo and Peter Szabo are among
the offensive threats for St. Cloud State.
The
Big Red made it their goal at the beginning of the season to be
the best defensive team in the nation and that’s been achieved,
as Cornell is allowing just 1.45 goals per game to rank first
in the country in scoring defense. Sophomore goalie David McKee
is the last line of that stingy defense and has stopped 93.5 percent
of opponents’ shots. All-tournament team members Matt Moulson,
Mike Iggulden, and Mike Knoepfli return from last year’s
championship team.
Boston
College won’t miss Schneider too much as senior netminder
Matti Kaltiainen will handle the goaltending duties. Kaltiainen
owns the lowest career goals-against average at The Heights. Offensive
stars Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina, and Patrick Eaves lead BC’s
forward lines.
HOW
WE SEE IT
Fans
at the rink and those viewing the games on CSTV get to see these
teams at their best as only two players (St. Cloud State defenseman
Casey Borer and Boston College goalie Cory Schneider) are with
the U.S. World Junior team. The teams that take the ice in Estero,
Fla.will closely resemble those that you’ll see in the post-season.
Maine
and St. Cloud State get things started on Tuesday afternoon. As
regular participants, the Black Bears own an advantage in preparing
for a tournament played at a non-traditional hockey location.
The
two best teams in this tournament are playing in the late semifinal
on Tuesday when Boston College and Cornell take the ice. At 7-2-2,
the Big Red boast an impressive record, but the losses and ties
have come against Michigan State, Dartmouth, and Vermont. The
most noteworthy win for the Big Red came against Harvard in the
second week of the Ivy League season. Boston College will give
the Big Red another chance to prove itself against a top-notch
team.
Semifinal
wins by Maine and Boston College will set up an all-Hockey East
final. BC defeated Maine 3-1 in Orono on Nov. 5, and the Eagles
should handle the Black Bears again this time around, adding the
Ned Harkness Cup to the trophy case next to last year’s
GLI title.
