| PLAYER OF THE WEEK |
MIKE CONNOLLY
Minnesota Duluth
Jr. | F | Calgary, Alberta
Mike Connolly
His Statistics: 6-0—6 in the Bulldogs’ tie and win against Minnesota last weekend, including a school record-tying five goals in Saturday’s 6-4 victory.
His Impact: Mike Connolly knows a little about scoring goals; he entered the weekend series against Minnesota with 40 markers in 106 career games and picked up the game-tying goal in Friday’s 2-2 draw with the Gophers. But even an accomplished marksman like Connolly couldn’t have predicted a goal-scoring outburst like the one that occurred Saturday in Duluth.
Connolly netted a natural hat trick a little more than 21 minutes into the game to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. When Minnesota scored twice in the second period to draw to 3-2, Connolly scored his fourth of the night with 1:17 left before the second intermission to extend the UMD lead to 4-2. The Gophers would draw to within one goal twice in the third period, but Connolly ultimately salted the game away with his fifth goal of the night with 1:20 left in regulation.
The six goals Connolly registered in the two games against Minnesota was one more than he scored in UMD’s 13 games between Nov. 19 and Jan. 22. Saturday’s five-goal game was the Calgary native’s first multi-goal effort since the Bulldogs’ Oct. 22 win against Alaska Anchorage.
His Runners-Up: Chris Barton, Merrimack; Joe Devin, Cornell; Andy Miele, Miami; Scott Pitt, Mercyhurst
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| STICK SALUTE |
For a townie from Potsdam, N.Y., Craig Conroy did pretty well for himself. The ex-Clarkson standout and 1994 All-American retired from the NHL last week after 1,009 games with Montreal, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Calgary. Conroy, who scored 182 goals and 360 assists over his 17-year career, had his best season with the Flames in 2001-02 when he posted a 27-48—75 line in 81 games. What kind of player was Conroy? Put it this way—any time Don Cherry gives you a nod in Coach’s Corner for the way you played, you’ve done something right.
| BENCH MINOR |
The current UMass roster is unlikely to be populated by any players who were a part of the program’s last appearance in the NCAA Tournament. That concluded the 2006-07 season. It was just four full years ago and the Minutemen have fallen significantly. This past weekend’s Massachusetts results were particularly troubling to us. After a 5-0 loss at Boston College, UMass yielded 11 goals to Merrimack. Fine opponents, both BC and Merrimack, but even when matching the first- and 58th-ranked teams (no matter who those are) we don’t expect an 11-spot to be hung up.
| SAY WHAT? |
“Hockey I like the most … because it’s the closest to super-heroics: They wear costumes, there are masks, there are good guys and bad guys, there are fights, it’s on ice … it’s like a Crystal Palace, like you’re fighting in the Fortress of Solitude. It’s not so much as sport as it is an adventure for me.”
That was writer/director/comic-book geek/New Jersey Devils fan Kevin Smith explaining his love of hockey in an interview on Los Angeles radio station KROQ last week. The guy who brought us “Clerks”, “Dogma”, and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” says the last film he’ll direct is “Hit Somebody”, based on the Warren Zevon song of the same name.
| RANKINGS OUTRAGE |
This week’s note stands in direct contrast to last week’s Outrage, which noted that 31 teams—more than half of the schools playing Division I hockey—received at least one vote in the USCHO.com poll. In this week’s USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today poll, the 18th of the 2010-11 campaign, 12 of the teams currently in the top 15 have been part of said rankings for 15 or more weeks this season; that means that 80 percent of the teams have remained relatively unchanged since the first poll back in October. We’ll discuss the significance of this phenomenon in this week’s INCH Podcast.
| TWEET OF THE WEEK |
@C_cohen25 Can’t believe I’m following a game on a blog lol. My ipad won’t let me watch online or listen. Go BU! 2-1 going into 3rd shut em down keiran
The Beanpot is a funny thing. Outsiders think it’s something that only people within a 50-mile drive of Boston care about, but we’ll take some time to salute the transplants. Even though former BU defenseman Colby Cohen is originally from Philadelphia and has spent time in Cleveland and Denver this season as a pro, he’s still tracking the Terriers.
