Inside College Hockey | The INCH First Shift: Week Two

October 19, 2009

By Mike Eidelbes and Joe Gladziszewski

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
STEPHANE DA COSTA Merrimack Fr. \| F \| Paris, France His Statistics: 2 GP, 5-0-5, vs. Holy Cross and Army His Impact: It was a weekend of firsts for Da Costa, a Merrimack freshman who played his first career game on Friday, a Warrior win over Holy Cross. His second game included more spectacular firsts - He scored his first career goal at 3:36 of the first period on the power play and had completed his first hat trick within 10 minutes of his opening goal. His natural hat trick got Merrimack out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. For good measure, Da Costa added two more power-play goals in the game as Merrimack went on to a 6-3 win. It was Merrimack’s first five-goal game in 21 years as a Hockey East school and Da Costa was the first Hockey East player to score five in a game since Brian Gionta did it for Boston College in 2001. His Runners-Up: Matt Beca (Clarkson); J.J. Crew (Western Michigan); John Faulkner (Nebraska-Omaha); Chay Genoway (North Dakota); Cameron Talbot (Alabama Huntsville). The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop
STICK SALUTE	The tour de force that is Alabama-Huntsville starts a six-game homestand this weekend with a series against Western Michigan. The Chargers, who opened the season with split against defending CCHA champion Notre Dame and swept reigning Atlantic Hockey champ Air Force last weekend by identical 4-2 scores, need just two more victories to match their entire win total from last season. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the future of the UAH program, there’s no question UAH has become college hockey’s version of America’s Team.
BENCH MINOR	The Minnesota-North Dakota rivalry is intense; that said, there’s a fine line between intensity and stupidity. That line was obliterated Friday in Grand Forks following the Fighting Sioux’s 4-0 win over the Gophers when a Minnesota fan apparently punched a NoDak supporter outside Ralph Engelstad Arena. As of Monday night the target of said punch, Jason Smith, remains in serious condition in a Grand Forks hospital with a fractured skull according to the Grand Forks Herald website. The alleged puncher, Peter Chwialkowski, has been charged with aggravated assualt and is free on $1,000 bond.
SAY WHAT?	Credit goes to the great Doyle Woody of the Anchorage Daily News for pointing out this head-scratcher from last weekend’s Brice Alaska Goal Rush in Fairbanks, where Alaska forward Dion Knelsen was named tournament MVP. Granted, Knelsen did score the winning goal in the post-overtime shootout with Rensselaer Saturday (the game is officially a tie for NCAA purposes) but in the hockey action that mattered, Knelsen had one assist and a plus-minus rating of -3 in games against Robert Morris and RPI. Didn’t we learn the lesson in Washington D.C. last April that the last guy to score isn’t necessarily the most outstanding player?
RANKINGS OUTRAGE	We mentioned Alabama-Huntsville in our Stick Salute above. So just how did USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine pollsters reward the Chargers for their sweep of Air Force? Air Force and its 0-4-0 record garnered three points in the poll. Alabama-Huntsville, at 3-1-0, got just one.
TWEET OF THE WEEK	@MikeMcKenzie11: character win tonight for a home sweep…k flanagan is a special player (St. Lawrence senior forward Mike McKenzie salutes his teammates and freshman forward Kyle Flanagan after the Saints defeated Niagara on Saturday night.)