It was easy for prognosticators to discount St. Lawrence’s chances entering this season because of the quantity and quality of players that the Saints didn’t have returning – especially on defense. Now the Saints have put themselves in position for a top-four spot in ECAC Hockey and first-round bye in the playoffs.
“I think our guys are showing themselves that we’re not a 10th-place team, like we were picked,” Saints head coach Joe Marsh said.
The highly-regarded blue line quartet of Matt Generous, Shawn Fensel, Zach Miskovic and Jared Ross never once missed a night in the Saints’ lineup as long as they were healthy. They anchored the Saint defense for four years and laced up the skates 574 times, playing all situations and logging tons of minutes. But the story of this season can’t be told without talking about the other two primary contributors one year ago, current seniors Jeff Caister and Derek Keller.
“That was the biggest difference when you talk about where we were going to be compared to last year, the biggest difference was we lost four senior D. That was a pretty good D corps. What we’ve gotten is a surprise, a pleasant surprise,” Marsh said.
“I can’t say enough about Caister and Keller. They’ve been unbelieveable workhorses for us. The two of them have logged … I’d be interested to see what their minutes are.”
Those seniors have led the way in ice time and leadership, and have been joined by promising youngsters such as freshman George Hughes, Jordan Dewey and Peter Child. Hughes is the Saints’ leading scorer among defensemen with 16 points. Child played in St. Lawrence’s first 24 games after missing last year due to injury, and is again suffering injury problems and could miss the rest of the year. Juniors Matt Raley and Bobby Torney have also appeared regularly for the Saints.
All of this has taken place in front of senior goaltender Kain Tisi, the red-hot senior. Tisi is 8-4-2 in 14 starts with a 1.99 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. He had just five wins in 16 career starts prior to this season.
“I think a lot of it has to do with the leadership that we got back. Derek Keller and Jeff Caister have been tremendous back there. I don’t know how many minutes they’re averaging a game but I think a lot of credit goes to those guys,” Tisi said.
A turning point for Tisi and the rest of the team took place Jan. 1 and 2 in Denver. Tisi earned a longer look between the pipes after making 27 saves in a 5-2 win over nationally-ranked Boston College in the opening day of the Denver Cup. St. Lawrence tied Nebraska-Omaha the following day.
“I think it’s a good step in the right direction,” Tisi said. “You go out there, you’re not quite sure what to expect with those big teams out there. Us, we’re kind of the underdogs going in, but to go in there and steal a game from BC, tie Nebraska, it was kind of an eye-opener and I think a lot of us really it was the starting point for the confidence of our team.”
Tisi was given opportunities to win the starting netminding job at various points throughout his first three years, but has now settled in to that role and is playing the best hockey of his career.
“Since Boston College he’s been on a roll. He’s an older player, he’s been through a lot and he’s playing with great confidence, seeing the puck well, doing a great job through traffic. He’s just in a good place right now,” Marsh said of Tisi.
Marsh described the senior netminding tandem of Tisi and Alex Petizian as a “little team within the team” and remarked that team is going along quite well.
The Saints followed the trip to Denver with a split at Niagara and then posted a 4-1-1 record in six ECAC Hockey contests over the remainder of January. St. Lawrence stands in a three-way tie for second place with Union and Yale, two points back of Cornell and the Saints visit RPI and Union this weekend.
“I think we’re in a good place. We’re proving that we’re one of the best teams in the country right now,” Tisi said. “I think we’re definitely proving to ourselves that we can hang in there.”
GOOD, BAD, UGLY
The Good: Two ECAC Hockey student-athletes are among the 10 national finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Quinnipiac’s Jean-Marc Beaudoin and Cornell’s Colin Greening are up for the award, which is presented to a Division I senior who has notable achievements in the fields of classroom, character, community and competition. The Bad: Hockey is a game played on ice in winter months. Of course it’s bound to be cold from time to time. To me, the uncomfortable conditions are when rinks are too warm. The Ugly: Harvard was whistled for 17 penalties totaling 58 minutes and allowed three power-play goals in 11 opportunities to Boston College in Monday’s Beanpot semifinal. The Crimson are 3-16-0 in their last 19 Beanpot games.
