BURNING QUESTIONS
Yale: How will Ryan Rondeau’s goaltending hold up when the spotlight shines this weekend?
Union: Are the Dutchmen a legitimate threat on the national scene?
Minnesota Duluth: Can one of the nation’s top lines carry the Bulldogs to the Frozen Four?
Air Force: Will Air Force re-assert itself in Bridgeport two years later?
BACK STORY
ECAC Hockey Dryden Award-winner Keith Kinkaid is one of the big reasons why Union is in the national tournament for the first time as a Division I program.
The NCAA East Region will be held in Bridgeport for the second time in three years. Last time around, Yale and Air Force were also a part of the field. The Bulldogs dropped a first-round game to eventual Frozen Four participants Vermont, while Air Force made a name for itself by knocking off highly-regarded Michigan. This time, those two teams meet in the first round. Union won the ECAC Hockey regular-season crown, but was an upset victim in the quarterfinal round of the league playoffs. The Dutchmen have the right pieces to prove that this season isn’t a fluke, and that they’re are a legitimate top-10 team in the nation right now. Minnesota Duluth was red-hot through the first week of February, but slowed down in the homestretch with a 4-5-2 record in its last 11 games.
ON A ROLL
Yale goalie Ryan Rondeau and the rest of the Bulldogs enter the weekend with a three-game shutout streak. They’ve won their last three games – a series clincher against St. Lawrence, semifinal against Colgate, and championship against Cornell – by a combined 14-0 margin. Rondeau didn’t get any recognition on the ECAC Hockey all-conference teams, but all he’s done is compile a 26-5-1 record in 32 starts with six shutouts, a .932 save percentage and 1.83 goals-against average. Not too shabby.
SOMETHING TO PROVE
Union is enjoying the finest season in the program’s Division I history and won the ECAC Hockey regular-season, by edging Yale by a single point. That’s a Yale team that held the nation’s number-one ranking for portions of the regular season. The Dutchmen are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance as a Division I program and has flown under the radar a bit due to Yale’s accolades throughout the year and other emergent stories on the national scene like Merrimack and Western Michigan. There’s no better place to make a splash and make a name than in the NCAA Tournament. With strong goaltending, some veteran scoring, a lethal power play and the ability to work for goals in difficult areas, Union will be a tough out.
ONE TO WATCH
Minnesota Duluth junior goalie Kenny Reiter has pretty solid numbers with a .911 save percentage and 2.36 goals-against average. Those numbers are almost identical to his sophomore season when he posted a .912 save percentage and 2.36 goals-against average. The more immediate concern is his recent form, where Reiter has posted just three wins in his last 10 starts, with a 3-4-3 record. In a tournament where goaltending can be the difference between moving on to play another day and headed back to campus, eyes will be on Reiter this weekend.
MR. CLUTCH
You probably remember this guy? Jacques Lamoureux? Air Force? Hobey Hat-Trick Finalist in 2009? Yeah, he’s rounding out a tremendous college career with a banner senior campaign. He was MVP of last week’s Atlantic Hockey championship weekend after scoring the game-winning goal in each Air Force victory over Holy Cross and Air Force. These weren’t the second goal in a 6-1 win, he scored back-to-back third-period tallies against Holy Cross to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead with 4:16 left. In the title game, his second-period power-play goal stood up in a 1-0 victory. Lamoureux has 24 goals and 44 points in 37 games this year, with 13 of his goals coming on the power play.
SUNDAY’S PROJECTED HEADLINE
Yale Makes Frozen Four; ECAC Hockey’s First Rep Since 2003
