| PLAYER OF THE WEEK |
Travis Vermeulen has set career-highs for goals and points as a senior.
TRAVIS VERMEULEN
St. Lawrence
Sr. | F | Centerville, Minn.
His Statistics: 2 GP, 2-4-6, GWG, +3 rating
His Impact: Vermeulen recorded a point on six of St. Lawrence’s nine goals over the weekend and helped lead the Saints into a three-way tie for second place in ECAC Hockey. He had two assists in the Saints’ 5-2 win over Brown on Friday and then came back with two goals and two assists in an important 4-2 win over Yale on Saturday at Appleton Arena.
Vermeulen’s huge night against defending league-champion Yale included a strong start in the first period. He assisted SLU’s opener and then scored less than three minutes later as the Saints held a 2-0 lead. Yale rallied back to tie it in the first minute of the third period, but Vermeulen scored the eventual game-winning goal at 11:00 of the period. He then assisted on an insurance tally with 1:52 remaining.
The senior forward leads St. Lawrence in scoring with 11 goals and 24 points but hasn’t been counted on for offensive production throughout his collegiate career. He started the year with just 42 career points. That’s not to discount his contributions over the last three and a half seasons. Saints coach Joe Marsh told the Watertown Daily Times, “He’s the best defensive forward I’ve ever coached. He brings it every single night.”
His Runners Up: Michael Davies, Wisconsin; Brian Foster, New Hampshire; Dave Jarman, Sacred Heart; Ian Lowe, Bemidji State; Brandon Richardson, Nebraska-Omaha
The INCH Player of the Week is brought to you by The INCH Shop.
| STICK SALUTE |
This weekend’s Denver-Wisconsin series lived up to its advance billing; it was a well-played, intense, highly entertaining affair between two legitimate national championship contenders in a playoff atmosphere. If the two games at the Kohl Center are an indicator, put our names on the list of those who’d like to see a rematch in March or April.
| BENCH MINOR |
Generally speaking, last weekend wasn’t a great one for teams in the INCH Power Rankings. Of the 20 teams currently ranked, only St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, New Hampshire, UMass Lowell and newcomer St. Lawrence managed two wins. Five ranked teams, meanwhile, were winless-Boston College, Minnesota Duluth, and Union were swept outright, while Denver and Lake Superior State salvaged only ties against Wisconsin and Notre Dame, respectively.
| SAY WHAT? |
“This guy has never had any coaching (at the University of Michigan). … Michigan is the worst. For hockey people, if you’ve got a choice between a kid-all things being equal-one’s going to Michigan and one’s going to Boston University, you all want your player (going to Boston University). … Red (Berenson) doesn’t coach. It’s ‘do what you want.’”
Asked about the maturation of defenseman Jack Johnson, Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi blasted Johnson, Berenson, and the Michigan program during a wide-ranging Q&A with Hockeytalk.biz blogger Gann Matsuda. The comments set the hockey world abuzz, and compelled Johnson to defend Berenson and the Michigan program. When asked about the comments a few days after they became public, Lombardi blamed Matsuda for taking his quotes out of context.
Maybe Lombardi is right-there exists anecdotal evidence that a fair share of high-profile ex-Wolverines (Andrew Cogliano, Al Montoya, and Jeff Tambellini, for example) haven’t panned out, but the flip side is that a number of lesser-heralded Michigan prospects have far exceeded expectations (think Matt Hunwick, David Moss, and Jed Ortmayer)-and he’s entitled to his opinion. But to make such statements and claiming his words were taken out of context is bush league.
| RANKINGS OUTRAGE |
An oddity in this week’s voter-driven rankings regarding Cornell and North Dakota, who split a series at Lynah Rink last weekend. In the USCHO.com poll, both the Fighting Sioux and Big Red edged up one spot to fourth and eighth, respectively. In the USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today poll, however-a poll in which INCH casts a ballot weekly-the Fighting Sioux moved up one spot to fourth while the Big Red fell one rung from seventh to eighth. It’s nothing to get mad about (unless you’re a Cornell fan, perhaps) but it’s fascinating how two different groups of voters interpret the same results.
| TWEETS OF THE WEEK |
@SchlossmanGF – In Lynah Rink. It’s freezing in here.
@undsid – In Lynah Rink. It’s freezing in here. @SchlossmanGF: Stop whining!
@SchlossmanGF – @INCH_Gladdy Strange that two guys from North Dakota are complaining about the cold?
The Tweets of the Week share some levity from Grand Forks Herald beat writer Brad Schlossman and North Dakota media relations director Jayson Hajdu. Here are a couple of guys who wake up to sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures throughout the winter and got the chills in a 40-50 degree hockey rink.
The bigger picture is that one of the ideas for this week’s Stick Salute was to raise the branches to North Dakota’s willingness to travel east and set up a very good series between two very good teams. We understand that several high-profile Western teams have big rinks and big financial responsibilities to their athletic departments. That being said, North Dakota has made a commitment to get on the plane and play non-league games against prominent Eastern-based teams. Last year, it was the IceBreaker Tournament at BU with another game against UMass. This year, a trip to Cornell; and next year the Sioux embark on a two-game series at Maine.
