COREY TROPP
Michigan State
Jr. | F | Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.

Michigan State's Corey Tropp heads into the holiday break as the NCAA leader in goals and points.

His Statistics: 2 GP, 4-2-6, +4 rating. GWG in two wins over Bowling Green

His Impact: When Michigan State was in a couple of tough spots against Bowling Green, the Spartans’ leading scorer came through. In Saturday’s game at BG, Tropp scored the game-tying goal with 5:40 remaining in the third period to knot the score 2-2. He then assisted on Michigan State’s overtime winner, the first career goal by freshman defenseman Torey Krug.

The teams tussled again Saturday in East Lansing and Tropp continued his big weekend by factoring on all four Michigan State goals in a 4-1 win. He assisted on Jeff Petry’s first-period power-play goal and then scored three straight goals over the second and third periods for the hat trick.

He is the only player with more than one hat trick this season and he leads the nation in goals (16) and points (27). Tropp has been called for just seven minor penalties in 20 games this year.

His Runners-Up: Bryan Flynn, Maine; Blake Geoffrion, Wisconsin; Mario Vallery-Trabucco, Union; Paul Zanette, Niagara; Ryan Zapolski, Mercyhurst

The upcoming week is largely bereft of college hockey action with just six non-conference matches on the slate between Tuesday and Sunday. There is an exhibition game that piques one’s interest, however, as North Dakota hosts the U.S. under-20 squad this Saturday—it’s the U.S. team’s lone domestic tune-up prior to the start of the the IIHF World Junior Championship, which runs from Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Regina and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. As an added bonus, the game is scheduled to be televised on Fox College Sports (DirecTV channel 617) at 8 p.m. ET.

Immortality takes many forms. For example, in his team’s loss to Rensselaer Saturday, Boston University defenseman Eric Gryba picked up a holding minor and a 10-minute misconduct at 8:13 of the second period to reach 295 career penalty minutes, eclipsing the school record of 288 set by Freddy Meyer. With all the PIMs he’s amassed, what’s another bench minor?

“We have a lot of guys who are underachieving now, or who overachieved last year.”

BU coach Jack Parker to John Connolly of the Boston Herald following the Terriers’ 5-3 loss to Rensselaer at Agganis Arena Saturday. The defending champs are in a death spiral that would make the Pittsburgh Steelers jealous. BU is 2-7-3 since Halloween and sits in ninth place in the Hockey East standings, one point ahead of 10th-place Providence.

This time around, we’re the subject of outrage.

Can you explain to the logic of how a team that splits with the No. 2 team in the country, and then splits with the No. 1 team in the country can fall three spots in your rankings?—Glen, St. Paul, Minn.

Glen refers to Minnesota Duluth dropping a few notches despite respectable splits against North Dakota and Denver. Our first impulse was to thank him for insinuating that logic plays a role in anything we do. He should listen to a podcast.

As we’ve often said regarding our Power Rankings, hockey is not played in a vacuum. And UMD’s slide isn’t really a result of anything they’ve done. As a staff, we felt the need to reward Ferris State (owners of a 10-game unbeaten streak) and Wisconsin (10-3-1 after a 1-2-1 start), so both crept ahead of UMD in recent weeks. Simple as that.

@CHockeyattheJoe Wearing my Blue and Yellow, because I am going to the U of M Game tonight!!! Come find me, I will be the one with the GLI stuff

Regional authenticity fail. Ask a Michigan fan if they wear blue and yellow, and you’re liable to end up wearing blue and black. As an aside, do you realize that there will be more nationally-ranked teams playing at the UConn Hockey Classic (Union, UMass) than at the Great Lakes Invitational (Michigan State)?

Most of the college hockey-playing country is in the grips of winter weather—snow, ice, sleet, freezing rain, Arctic air, or some combination therein. It’s perfect pucks weather, though, and we’re here with our picks for the four best matchups of the weekend.

Wisconsin at North Dakota (Fri.-Sat.): It’s the battle of an unstoppable offense against a stingy defense. Surprisingly, it’s the Badgers who pace the WCHA in scoring at four goals a game and the Sioux who share the league lead in scoring defense at two goals a game—NoDak is tied with Wisconsin for that honor, so it appears some things never change.

Anyhoo, the outcome of this series may be defined by who doesn’t play. North Dakota defenseman Chay Genoway is still sidelined by the lingering effects of a concussion suffered weeks ago, and top forward Chris VandeVelde was shelved for last Saturday’s loss at Minnesota Duluth. He could go this weekend, however. Among the Wisconsin wounded is goaltender Brett Bennett; he was hurt in practice this week and won’t make the trip to Grand Forks. Scott Gudmandson will go both nights for Bucky.

Michigan vs. Notre Dame (Fri. at Ann Arbor, Sun. at Notre Dame): Two teams whose first halves have not gone according to script meet in a home-and-home series this weekend. The Wolverines have rallied from last month’s five-game losing streak to win four of their last five. Notre Dame, meanwhile, is 2-4-3 in its last nine games. Scoring has been the Irish’s big problem—during the aforementioned nine-game stretch, the Fighting Irish have netted a total of 16 goals and have scored two or fewer goals in seven of those matches.

Zane Kalemba and Princeton will try to get off the schneid against UMass Lowell this weekend.

Princeton at UMass Lowell (Fri.-Sat.): Another candidate for “What Happened To?” honors in the first half of the season is Princeton. The Tigers are in the throes of a five-game losing skid and six-game winless streak. The problem? Not scoring enough and letting in too many—Princeton has been outscored in its last five by a 22-9 margin. UMass Lowell snapped a three-game mini-slide last Saturday by beating UMass at Tsongas Arena.

Colorado College at St. Cloud State (Fri.-Sat.): Despite its strong start, we’ve viewed Colorado College with a healthy dose of skepticism to date because of the Tigers’ relatively soft schedule and preponderance of home games. On the flip side, we’ve given St. Cloud State the benefit of the doubt because its first-half slate ranks among the toughest in the country and it has played the bulk of his games on the road.

The Huskies are two games above .500, but they’ve got a road win against Denver and those three-point weekends against Union and Minnesota Duluth back in October are looking pretty good right now. The Tigers, who played 10 of their first 14 games at World Arena, embark on a stretch during with eight of their next 10 are on the road.

Also: More ECAC Hockey-Hockey East crossover as Rensselaer heads east for a game against reeling Boston University and St. Lawrence travels to Vermont … Maine started the season 1-5-0, but is 7-2-1 since. The Black Bears host Northeastern Saturday … Minnesota Duluth hosts Denver in a key WCHA series.

TV Schedule (All times Eastern): Friday—Wisconsin at North Dakota, NHL Network and Fox College Sports, 8:30 p.m.; Saturday—Wisconsin at North Dakota, Fox College Sports, 8 p.m.

MIKE CLEMENTE
Brown
So. | G | Great Falls, Va.

His Statistics: 3 GP, 3-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .971 save pct.

Mike Clemente

His Impact: It wasn’t surprising to see Brown’s talented sophomore goalie come up with a big mid-week performance in a win at Harvard. Clemente stopped 42 of 43 shots on the night, his third straight win over the Crimson on Harvard’s home ice - dating back to last spring’s back-to-back shutouts in the playoffs. In those three games Clemente had a 0.33 goals-against average and stopped 128 of 129 shots, a .992 save percentage.

Clemente’s spectacular string continued through the weekend, with 36 saves in a 3-1 win over Princeton and 22 saves in a 2-1 win over first-place Quinnipiac. In Brown’s three victories for the week, Clemente stopped 100 of 103 shots.

The bigger picture for the Bears shows that things are trending upward after a couple of difficult seasons. Brown has won four straight and could earn a fifth straight win Tuesday when they host American International. Brown’s last five-game winning streak came back in the 2003-04 season when Yann Danis was a senior.

His Runners-Up: Cody Campbell, Alabama-Huntsville; Jacques Lamoureux, Air Force; John Muse, Boston College; Cody Reichard and Connor Knapp, Miami; Brendan Smith, Wisconsin

Can we call this group of dedicated fans Carter's Campers?

College hockey fandom takes many forms, whether it’s the Lynah Faithful chucking fish or the kids at Yost hurling obscenities. Down in Oxford, Ohio, Miami has always had solid support, but as the RedHawk program has risen to national prominence, the team’s fans have ratcheted up the fervor. Witness the accompanying visual evidence of RedHawk boosters camping outside Goggin 2.0 prior to last weekend’s series with Notre Dame.

It’s not Krzyzewski-ville, nor is it of the magnitude of the tent city that sprung up prior to the Miami-Michigan series of a couple years ago that pitted the nation’s two top-ranked teams against one another, but we love it. The only thing that could possibly make us happier is if one of the tents belonged to RedHawk forward Carter Camper.

An apparent officiating error was made at the end of Saturday’s game in Duluth between North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth. Late in the third period, the puck apparently struck the protective screen above the glass, and play continued. Later in the shift, Minnesota Duluth scored the game-tying goal with 33 seconds remaining in the third period. The Bulldogs eventually won the game in overtime.

Our beef isn’t that the call was missed, because it’s an extremely difficult call for refs to make for two major reasons - lighting and perspective. The officials are looking up at a dark puck on a dark net against a dark background. Fans and television cameras often catch the action from a higher perspective against the white background of the ice. It’s not an ideal situation.

The NCAA Rulebook says that a linesman’s responsibilities include making decisions on pucks being out of play, and from their perspective at the blueline while the puck is in an attacking zone, it makes sense to us that they should call the puck out of play more aggressively.

Compare the two quotes below.

US National Team Development Program goalie Jack Campbell: “My goal is to be playing in the National Hockey League within a year or two, and I did not want to put Michigan’s hockey program in a bad position where I left after one season.”

Michigan State senior basketball player Isiah Dahlman: “I just loved this place so much, it felt like home for me. I didn’t want to transfer somewhere (and) give up my goals just because it wasn’t going right for me.”

Campbell, a highly touted netminder, had verbally committed to Michigan but last month decided he would go the major junior route instead. Dahlman, a heralded recruit when he came to East Lansing a few years ago, saw a lot of action as a freshman but has played sparingly since. Campbell has been criticized by some for spurning Michigan, while Dahlman is seen as not having lived up to his billing. The interesting parallel regarding these quotes is that while Dahlman and (especially) Campbell have been vilified to a certain extent, they’re doing what they feel is best in order to achieve their goals–Dahlman’s, athletically and otherwise, have changed along the way, while Campbell feels he’s best served by taking an alternate route.

The bottom line is that while college sports fans may feel these student-athletes have failed to meet our expectations or let us down, we have to respect that they’re pursuing dreams and seeking fulfillment. Too often, we lose sight of that.

“I have a vote in the [USCHO/CBS College Sports] poll and I picked Union 14th,” the Schenectady Daily Gazette’s Ken Schott wrote in his Parting Schotts blog Monday. “Why not?”

The Dutchmen are 18th in the INCH Power Rankings and 20th in the USCHO/CBS College Sports poll and also received votes in this week’s USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today poll, so it’s not like Union doesn’t belong among the country’s top 20. They’re a definite contender in ECAC Hockey and we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them knocking on the door of the top-10 in the national rankings before the end of the season.

But Schott, who’s covers the Union hockey beat, issued a challenge, and we’re willing to bite because we think he’s holding a little bit of hometown reverence for the team at this early stage of the season. The Dutchmen (7-3-5, 3-0-3 ECAC Hockey) have no wins against ranked opponents and their best win was a 3-1 victory over Colgate at home this past weekend. Union swept Maine on the opening week of the season, also at home, but the Black Bears played without starting goalie Scott Darling. Also included in the Union c.v. is a home loss to Sacred Heart in overtime and a 0-0 tie against Lake Superior State in a neutral-site game.

@unomavmania UNO fell out of the INCH Power Rankings this week joining unranked programs Michigan, Minnesota and Notre Dame.

• That’s the kind of positive spin we like to see from Nebraska-Omaha fans and the MavMania fan site. Even though the upstart Mavs dropped from the INCH Power Rankings, associate yourselves with other traditional powers. Our only regret is that the tweet didn’t also throw Boston University in the mix.

@demike3316 Just got a twitter account for a class and I AM LOST

• We were honored to be one of the first Twitter accounts that RIT goalie Jared DeMichiel decided to follow when he joined the Twitter community, apparently for a class project. DeMichiel, by the way, has a 1.37 goals-against average and 8-0-1 record during RIT’s current 10-game unbeaten streak, the longest in the nation. He was also the 1,000th follower of @INCH. We’re grateful and flattered to be followed by so many great Tweeps.

Canisius headed into the Thanksgiving weekend with the hottest defense in the land before Army knocked the stuffing out of the Golden Griffins.

Erik Sefchik had two goals and two assists in Army's 11-goal weekend.

The Black Knights piled up 11 goals in two nights, an offensive explosion that is rare on the banks of the Hudson River. Army posted a 4-1 win on Friday night, snapping a six-game unbeaten streak by the Griffins, and followed that with a 7-2 triumph on Saturday.

“That’s a great weekend,’’ said Army coach Brian Riley. “I knew this was going to be a tough task for us with Canisius coming in here. They are a real good hockey team. I felt they had opportunities but we just seemed to get some bounces.’’

The Black Knights (5-8-2) got steady goaltending from Jay Clark (29 saves on Friday, 31 on Saturday), and found a way to distribute the scoring. Fourteen players produced points and seven tallied goals on the weekend.

“At the beginning of the year we started off slow (1-6-2) and I think we were trying to find our team identity,’’ said Army sophomore defenseman Marcel Alvarez. “I think we found it, starting last weekend (eight goals in a split at Bentley) and we built on it this weekend.’’

Army has scored 19 goals over the last four games, moving to fourth in league scoring (2.8 per game). The outburst came once Riley shook up his forward combinations after scoring just twice in a set at Rochester Institute of Technology and getting blanked by American International.

Freshman Andy Starczewski was moved to the top line with center Eric Sefchik and winger Cody Omilusik. Center Mike Hull found himself with two new partners in all-star Owen Meyer and Bryant Skarda.

“We have some guys who can score,’’ Riley said. “Hopefully what this does is gives these guys confidence. We were really kind of pressing a few weeks ago. We have some guys who can put the puck in the net and the last two weekends it has been coming together.’’

Said Sefchik: “I think guys are just getting to the net. We have been getting a lot of goals in the dirty areas, and that’s the difference. Before we were looking from the perimeter area and nothing was really going our way. We started getting some dirty goals and that spurred other things.’’

Canisius (7-8-1) entered this weekend with three consecutive shutouts over Connecticut (1-0) and American International (7-0, 4-0). Dan Morrison was given the nod in net by coach Dave Smith to keep the streak alive.

Owen Meyer’s goal at 5:27 of the second period on Friday – on a hard-driving charge to the net – put an end to Canisius’ record streak of 213 minutes, 12 seconds, the sixth-longest mark in NCAA Division I history. Bill Day made it 2-0 some five minutes later. Cory Conacher halved the lead early in the third period but Army got goals from Joey Ammon and Cody Omilusik (empty netter) for the win.

Clark said he enjoyed the challenge of facing Morrison.

“I was looking at his stats and saying, ‘Man, he has to be doing something right,’’’ Clark said. “There was a little extra pressure. … I was feeling it out, seeing what kind of goalie he is. Those are fun, though. I would rather play those games (when) there’s a goalie on the other net who is going to bring out the best in you. That’s when it’s fun.’’

Smith said the setbacks should drive a point home to his team.

“We have a lot of work to do if we want to be in the upper echelon in this league,’’ Smith said. “We need to fix the simple things with our game.’’

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

Lakers building momentum: Mercyhurst followed a four-game losing skid with consecutive sweeps of Holy Cross (5-1, 4-1) and on the road at American International (8-2, 2-0). Brandon Coccimiglio’s two goals led seven goal scorers and 16 point producers in the Friday victory at AIC. Jesse Echternach and Patrick Goebel scored on Saturday. Ryan Zapolski turned aside 33 shots on Friday and 36 shots on Saturday for his fifth career shutout, earning Atlantic Hockey goalie of the week honors.

Volkening back on track: Air Force senior goalie Andrew Volkening allowed just nine goals in seven league games (five on the road), earning the Atlantic Hockey goalie of the month award for November. Volkening posted his 12th and 13th career shutouts, and his streak of 182 consecutive minutes was the third-longest of his career. The Falcons are 4-0-3 in his last seven starts, the third-longest active unbeaten streak in NCAA Division I.

Not a lost trip to Troy: Bentley earned a shootout victory over Lake Superior State in the consolation game of the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament after the teams played to a 2-2 draw through 65 minutes (the game goes in the books as a tie). RPI built a 4-0 lead through 33 minutes and handed Bentley a 5-2 loss in the opening round.

Huskies hurting: Connecticut (2-10-2) is struggling on both sides of the ice. The Huskies dropped a 5-0 game at Holy Cross on Tuesday, and followed that with an 8-1 beating at Brown on Saturday. The Huskies have lost three in a row and are winless in their last six (0-4-2). UConn has scored four goals in the last five games, and no Husky has surpassed eight points through 14 games. The Huskies have allowed six-or-more goals on four occasions. The eight goals allowed is the worst defensive showing since Yale posted a 9-1 win on Jan. 2, 2008.

Two is the tragic number: Canisius has allowed two first-period goals in seven of its eight losses this season.

Giving up the points: Atlantic Hockey teams are 4-32-3 against non-conference foes this season. The league breakdown: vs. ECAC 3-13-2; vs. CCHA 1-9-1; vs. Hockey East 0-5; vs. CHA 0-4; vs. WCHA 0-1.

We’re supposed to be professionals—emphasis on supposed—but there are days when we lack the creativity necessary to pull a witty headline from nether regions of our brains. And there are also times when we’d rather dispatch with the pleasantries and get right to the hockey. This would be a mixture of both.

Colorado College vs. Denver (Friday at Colorado Springs, Saturday at Denver): Colorado College ranks ahead of Denver in every major statistical category (scoring offense, scoring defense, power-play and penalty-killing success rates, fewest penalty minutes) and both teams are among the top seven in the INCH Power Rankings and the voter-driven polls. Still, a Tiger sweep would be considered a pretty big upset.

That’s not a rub on Colorado College, which has been one of the nation’s biggest surprises to date. But its resume is fairly pedestrian; the team’s biggest achievement is a win and tie at Wisconsin in the Badgers’ first series of the year. The Pioneers’ cache, meanwhile, is more impressive with a sweep of North Dakota and back-to-back shutouts at Minnesota—the Gophers might be down, but that’s still a quite an accomplishment. Don’t be surprised if the goaltenders, DU veteran netminder Marc Cheverie and CC neophyte Joe Howe, are the deciding factors in this series.

UMass forward James Marcou is the nation's leading scorer with 23 points in 12 games.

Boston College at Massachusetts (Friday): It’s the Minutemen’s annual attendance-drive game when Boston College visits. UMass has adopted and promoted the slogan Operation 8K with a goal of drawing 8,000 fans or more to Mullins Center for the contest. Last year’s Operation 8K game drew 8,389 fans, which is the single-game home attendance record for UMass.

They’re hoping to exceed that this time around, and it’s not just a matter of rivalry for this game. It’s a big game near the top of the Hockey East standings. These two teams are currently tied for second place, just two points behind New Hampshire, although UMass has two games in hand on both UNH and BC. The Eagles won two of the three meetings between the teams last season.

Notre Dame at Miami (Friday-Saturday): Someone taking part in INCH’s weekly chat at ESPN.com asked how we saw the series between the Fighting Irish and RedHawks shaking out. Our answer? Expect two ties—Notre Dame is 2-0-3 in its last five games, while Miami is 1-1-4 over its last six outings. If either team has a glaring weakness, it’s the Fighting Irish’s inability to score. Notre Dame averages just 2.4 goals per game but it’s not for lack of effort; in the 10 games the Irish have both outshot their opponent and attempted 27 or more shots on goal, their record is a ho-hum 4-4-2.

Quinnipiac at Yale (Friday): A matchup of ECAC Hockey’s Connecticut-based teams brings regional rivalry into the picture, but it’s also an important game in the ECACH standings. Quinnipiac is a perfect 7-0-0 in league games so far but travels to take on the defending league champions in this matchup, who are 2-1-2 through five league contests. If the Bulldogs can find a way to slow down Quinnipiac and hand the Bobcats their first league loss of the campaign, it could slow down Quinnipiac’s runaway start to the season. After the game against Yale, the Bobcats have five games against teams that have a combined record of 25 games under .500.

Also: Excellent slate of games in the Capital District this weekend as Colgate and Cornell visit Rensselaer and Union in ECAC Hockey action … BU hosts BC Saturday. Think Terrier fans will remind Eagle supporters which team is reigning national champ? Think Heights denizens will remind the hosts which team is in last place in Hockey East? … Minnesota Duluth welcomes North Dakota to the DECC. The Bulldogs are off to their best start in 14 years … RIT can extend its winning streak to 10 with a sweep of Holy Cross in Worcester … Ohio State hosts Michigan, which is 2-0 in the post-Robbie Czarnik era. That begs the question, why does someone who’s turns 20 next month go by Robbie?

TV Schedule (all times Eastern): Friday—Denver at Colorado College, Fox Sports Rocky Mountain, 9:30 p.m.; Minnesota State at Minnesota, Fox Sports North, time TBA (tape delay following Wild hockey). Saturday—Michigan Tech at Wisconsin, Fox Sports North Wisconsin, 8 p.m.; Colorado College at Denver, Fox Sports Rocky Mountain, 9 p.m.; Minnesota at Minnesota State, Fox Sports North, time TBA (tape delay). Sunday—New Hampshire at Vermont, ESPNU, 3 p.m.

TANNER HOUSE
Maine
Jr. | F | Cochrane, Alberta

His Statistics: 4-2—6, GWG, PPG, +5 in wins vs. UMass Lowell and St. Lawrence.

His Impact: Maine’s junior captain came through with a big weekend to help the Black Bears to a pair of noteworthy wins. House scored twice in Maine’s 3-1 win at nationally-ranked UMass Lowell. His first goal knotted the score 1-1 in the second period and he added another in the third period to give the Black Bears a 3-1 lead.

Saturday night’s 10-1 win over St. Lawrence at Portland included a two-goal, two-assist four-point effort from House. He scored a power-play goal in the first and scored again in the third period. Maine scored five goals in the first period en route to a big win.

The win over UMass Lowell helped Maine move into a tie for fourth place in the Hockey East standings as the Black Bears evened their conference record at 4-4-1. Maine is 5-2-1 in its last eight games to pull to within one game of the .500 mark after a slow start.

His Runners-Up: Carl Hagelin, Michigan; Keith Kincaid, Union; Danny Kristo, North Dakota; Chris McKelvie, Bemidji State; Eric Sefchik, Army

The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop

Brown’s 8-1 win over the weekend gave new head coach Brendan Whittet his first as a Division I head coach. The Bears emphatically defeated Connecticut after scoring five goals in the first period. Prior to that win, Brown had suffered three straight one-goal losses. His other rookie coaching colleagues, C.J. Marattolo of Sacred Heart got his first win in an impressive victory over Union and Bowling Green’s Dennis Williams is guiding an improved Bowling Green team that has wins over nationally-ranked Alaska and Michigan.

One reason the Big Ten wouldn’t mind adding hockey to the league’s stable of sports is to provide additional programming for the conference’s television outlet—especially on Friday nights, the dead zone of college athletics. But the Big Ten Network’s commitment to college pucks has to be called into question as based on its decision to forego televising any of last weekend’s College Hockey Showcase games, choosing to instead broadcast Northwestern men’s basketball on Friday and Saturday night.

In case you’re keeping track at home, four hockey programs—all of which have won national championships in the last 12 years—were bounced in favor of a hoops team that has never qualified for an NCAA tournament. That, Big Ten Net, is well below average.

“That was men against boys out there. They looked like the Maine Black Bears of old.”

St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh to Larry Mahoney of the Bangor Daily News following the Black Bears’ 10-1 thrashing of the Saints Saturday at Portland’s Cumberland County Civic Center. Fifteen of Maine’s 18 skaters registered at least one point in the team’s best offensive output since a 12-5 win over Boston College on Nov. 22, 1997.

We could harp on voters who favored Michigan again—the Wolverines did beat Minnesota and Wisconsin last weekend to even their record at 7-7-0, so we’ll let it slide even though they’re 11th in the CCHA standings. We could pick on those whose ballots included sub-.500 teams Boston University, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Princeton. Our sights are set on an even bigger travesty, however.

In this week’s USCHO.com Division III men’s poll, bitter SUNYAC rivals Oswego and Plattsburgh are tied for first place and Plattsburgh has one more first-place vote—odd considering Oswego beat Plattsburgh, 5-2, in Plattsburgh’s rink a little more than three weeks ago. If two teams are considered the consensus top two in the country, wouldn’t logic dictate that the team that won the head-to-head matchup should be considered superior?

@kausatoday Who would have thought that Sidney Crosby and Dustin Penner would both have 15 goals and 15 assists after 27 games this season?

Other than Penner’s family, some die-hard Maine and Edmonton Oilers supporters, and INCH’s Joe Gladziszewski, probably no one. But as USA Today NHL scribe Kevin Allen pointed out recently, the ex-Black Bear—who NHL GMs point to as the poster boy for not spiriting away restricted free agents from other teams—has so far this season proven to be worth every penny of his $4.25 million annual salary.

Lots to talk about in the college hockey world this week led by an impressive gathering of talent in Grand Forks, the penultimate College Hockey Showcase, and a whole lotta red at Madison Square Garden.

Subway Holiday Classic, Grand Forks, N.D. (Fri.-Sat.): This on-again, off-again event hosted by North Dakota has a pseudo-Frozen Four feel with three top-10 teams—Miami, Bemidji State, and the homestanding Fighting Sioux—joined by Ohio State. It’s not a true tournament; Friday starts with the RedHawks and Beavers in a Frozen Four semifinal rematch from last April and NoDak and the Buckeyes in the nightcap. Saturday, it’s OSU facing BSU and top-ranked Miami butting heads with the Sioux.

The four games in this event range from intriguing to must-see. Naturally, the primary focus will be on Saturday’s finale pitting Miami against North Dakota, but Friday’s opener featuring Bemidji State and Miami is an interesting collision of a RedHawk team that prides itself on defense and has been the most consistent team in the nation to date and a Beaver squad that has been nearly unstoppable offensively. Plenty at stake for the hosts, too, as the Sioux have lost three in a row. Ohio State is more talented than its 5-8-1 record would indicate; the Buckeyes were victimized for 14 goals by Ferris State last weekend. 

Riley Nash and Cornell are off to Madison Square Garden this weekend to face defending national champion Boston University.

Cornell vs. Boston University, Madison Square Garden (Sat.): A couple of ancient rivals from the old-time ECAC meet in the Big Apple for the second time in three years. Coaches Jack Parker of BU and Mike Schafer of Cornell both played at the schools where they now coach and have an appreciation of what this rivalry meant to previous generations. Now, alumni and fans will fill MSG with much of the same passion. When the teams met in 2007, BU got off to a quick start, scoring three goals in the first 11 minutes and went on to a 6-3 victory.

This year’s game matches a Cornell team that has been pretty solid in winning six of its first eight games and an underperforming Terrier squad that has started its national championship defense with a 4-7-1 record. Cornell is looking forward to the opportunity to play in such a spectacle to help prepare itself for larger crowds and bigger games later in the year. This game might be considered small potatoes for the Terriers, who will also play in Fenway Park and the Beanpot later this season, but it’s a great opportunity for them to start to turn things around against a very good opponent.

Wisconsin at Michigan State (Fri.): When the Badgers and Spartans, Gophers and Wolverines annually get together for the College Hockey Showcase we’ve come to expect to see them all prominently placed in the national rankings. That’s not the case this year, and Friday’s game in East Lansing is the only one of the weekend pitting top-20 teams.

Both teams have excelled at the defensive end of the rink as Wisconsin ranks seventh nationally, allowing just 2.00 goals per game over its 12 games en route to a 7-4-1 record. The Spartans are ninth in defense, allowing 2.14 goals per contest over 14 games during which they’ve gone 9-3-2. Both teams can also score, and are averaging 3.00 goals per game or better. Success in Friday’s game will be found by the team that takes advantage of any defensive breakdowns, which could be rare. If they happen, both teams skill players are good enough to capitalize.

St. Cloud State at Denver (Fri.-Sat.): This series has trap written all over it for the Pioneers, who swept North Dakota at Magness Arena last weekend and have a home-and-home series with archrival Colorado College next weekend. Sandwiched in the middle is this set with the Huskies, the most deceiving .500 team in college hockey. That 5-5-2 mark doesn’t look great on paper, but it’s fairly impressive when you consider that the six opponents SCSU has faced thus far have a combined 40-23-10 record and four of them are ratedin the top 16 of this week’s INCH Power Rankings.

Also: Bentley, Lake Superior State, Union, and Rensselaer comprise the field for this year’s Rensselaer Holiday Hockey Tournament … Nice non-conference tilt on Saturday afternoon as Massachusetts travels to Quinnipiac … Michigan and Minnesota meet in Ann Arbor Friday. Since the two schools didn’t meet in football this season, does the winner of this game get the Little Brown Jug?

TV schedule (all times Eastern): Friday—Minnesota at Michigan, FSN North, 7:30 p.m.; Ohio State at North Dakota, Fox College Sports, 8:30 p.m.; St. Cloud State at Denver, FSN Rocky Mountain, 9:30 p.m. Saturday—Massachusetts at Quinnipiac, NESN, 3 p.m.; Miami at North Dakota, Fox College Sports, 8:30 p.m.;

If John Madden was still handing out his Thanksgiving Day awards, this year’s Turducken – with its eight legs – would go to the Rochester Institute of Technology hockey team.

Dan Ringwald met the 100-point milestone recently for red-hot RIT.

The Tigers turned the fortunes of an 0-5-0 start into an eight-game win streak in league play and the top spot in Atlantic Hockey. Since getting swept by defending champion Air Force on Oct. 23-24, the Tigers have completed sweeps of Connecticut, Army, Merychurst (on the road) and Sacred Heart. The win streak is the longest in NCAA Division I.

“I liked how we were playing when we were 0-5 and I like how we are playing having won eight straight,” coach Wayne Wilson said.

A big difference in the turnaround was winning the close contests. RIT dropped its first three one-goal decisions and has since won four in a row. RIT has benefited from home cooking, having won its last eight contests at Ritter Arena.

RIT leads the league with 3.54 goals per game, and has dropped its goals against by almost three-quarters of a goal to 2.38. The power play is 22 percentage points better than last season and the penalty kill has improved 42 points.

Junior Andrew Favot (five goals) leads the league with 18 points – he also leads the league with 11 points (two goals) on the power play. Favot had 10 goals as a sophomore.

All-star defenseman Dan Ringwald continues to pile up the points. He has three power play goals, two even-strength tallies and nine assists. His assist late in Saturday’s 5-3 win over Sacred Heart was the 100th point of his distinguished career, in his 118th contest.

RIT enters the month of December with a winning mark for the first time in five seasons at Division I. The Tigers have the holiday weekend off, and have just three games remaining before the new year: Dec. 4-5 at Holy Cross and Dec. 12 against future Atlantic Hockey foe Niagara.

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

Making short work – Mercyhurst junior forward Mike Gurtler became the seventh player in NCAA Div. I history to record a short-handed hat trick in a 5-1 win over Holy Cross on Friday. It was the first hat trick of his career. He added two assists the following night in a 4-1 triumph over the Crusaders, earning the Atlantic Hockey player of the week award.

On one night, Gurtler became one of only 22 players in MAAC/Atlantic Hockey history to record three short-handed goals in a season. Shawn Mansoff of Quinnipiac (2000) and Dave Borelli of Mercyhurst (2006) own the record with five. Five more players have posted four in a season.

Another brick in the wall – Canisius has posted three consecutive shutout wins, setting a school record. It is just the ninth time in NCAA hockey history that a team has performed that feat and the fourth time since 1965, joining Air Force in 2009, Colgate in 2008 and Wisconsin in 2006. The shutout span of 187 minutes, 45 seconds is the 10th-longest in NCAA history.

Naturally, Griffin goalies Dan Morrison and Andrew Loewen shared the Atlantic Hockey goaltender of the week award. Morrison made 19 stops in a 1-0 win over Connecticut on Nov. 15. Morrison made 36 saves in a 7-0 win over AIC on Friday, his third shutout of the season. Loewen made 32 saves in the 4-0 win over AIC on Saturday, shutting down the Yellow Jackets on seven power-play opportunities, four in the final period alone. His sixth career shutout tied the Canisius career mark with Bryan Worosz (2001-05).

No shutouts here – Air Force owns the league’s longest current streak of consecutive games with at least one goal at 91. The last time the Falcons were shut out was Oct. 26, 2007 (Bentley 4-0).

Consecutive games with goal: Air Force 91; RIT 37; Sacred Heart 28; Mercyhurst 14; Canisius 10; Bentley 5; Holy Cross 4; Army 2; AIC 0; Connecticut 0.

Hot hand – Canisius is unbeaten in its last six (5-0-1), its longest streak since 2003-04. The Golden Griffins have outscored the opposition 26-11 during the streak.

“The team is rolling on all cylinders right now,” said senior Dave Cianfrini. “The forwards, the defenders and the goalies are all playing really well. We are sticking to our systems and it is showing in our results.”

The Golden Griffins had a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) in February and March of 2001. Canisius puts its mark on the line this weekend at Army on Friday and Saturday.

Chasing the Tigers – Air Force (6-1-3 league) is unbeaten in its last seven (4-0-3), and trails RIT by only one point in the battle for first place. The Falcons have managed a win and a tie in each of the last three weekend series with Bentley, Holy Cross and Connecticut. It is Air Force’s longest unbeaten streak since opening the 2008-09 season with 13 consecutive wins.

Struggling at AIC – The Yellow Jackets were blanked by Canisius, 7-0 and 4-0. The last time AIC was shut out on consecutive nights was early last season, 6-0 at Union on Dec. 9 and 4-0 at Massachusetts on Dec. 12. AIC has managed just five goals in the last six games.

Skid buster – Holy Cross broke an 0-4-1 streak with a 5-0 win over visiting Connecticut on Tuesday. The Huskies have been shut out three times this season, and have just three goals in their last four games (0-3-1).

At this point last season – Only four teams in Atlantic Hockey enjoy better records at this point of the season than last year. RIT (8-5) is five points better, Sacred Heart (3-7-2) is two points better and Holy Cross (4-7-2) and Army (3-8-2) are one point better. Canisius (7-6-1) has one more win but equal points. Teams off to a worse start are Air Force (6-5-3, 11 points down), Mercyhurst (4-9-1, two points down), Connecticut (2-9-2, two points down), AIC (2-8-1, one point down) and Bentley (5-5-2, one point down).

Special gains – Seven of the ten Atlantic Hockey teams have seen an improvement on the power play over last season’s final numbers, led by AIC (plus-61 percentage points) and Sacred Heart (plus-52). Mercyhust is down 105 points.

Five of the ten teams have made improvements on the penalty kill, led by Air Force (plus 50 points) and RIT (plus 42 points). The two teams which have suffered the biggest drops on penalty kill are Mercyhurst (minus 87 points) and Sacred Heart (minus 68).

Army’s numbers are practically the same in goals, goals against and penalty kill and 14 points up on the power play.

Tough in net – Nine goalies are stopping better than nine of every 10 shots, two more if you round up the third decimal point. AIC freshman Ben Meisner leads the way with a .933 save percentage. Dan Morrison of Canisius is second at .927.

Working overtime - Air Force and Sacred Heart have already played four overtime contests. Air Force is 1-0-3, Sacred Heart is 1-1-2. Army, Holy Cross and Connecticut have tied both of their OT games. AIC, Mercyhurst and Canisius tied their only OT contests. Bentley is 0-1-2 and RIT is 0-1.

Coming up – Canisius takes its six-game unbeaten streak to Army on Friday and Saturday. Bentley faces host RPI and either Union or Lake Superior State in the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament. Mercyhurst plays a set at American International. In non-league games on Saturday, Holy Cross hosts Yale and Connecticut plays at Brown.

BLAIR RILEY
Ferris State
Sr. | F | Kamloops, British Columbia

His Statistics: 4-2—6 in a sweep of Ohio State, including a hat trick Friday.

His Impact: If you hadn’t taken notice of Ferris State’s fine start of the season prior to this past weekend’s sweep of Ohio State, the Bulldogs emphatically announced themselves as a team to be reckoned with in the CCHA in a pair of noteworthy wins. Blair Riley was a big part of the weekend sweep and is this week’s INCH National Player of the Week.

Riley factored in half of Ferris State’s scoring bonanza with three goals and an assist in Friday’s 8-1 win. Riley added a goal and assist in Saturday’s comeback victory, during which the Bulldogs trailed by three goals on three separate occasions. Riley scored his goal, his 12th of the year, with 8:13 to play in the third period and it brought the Bulldogs to within one. They later tied the score with a power-play goal with 51 seconds left in the period, assisted by Riley, and won it with another PPG 4:38 into overtime.

Riley’s 12 goals and 16 points lead the Bulldogs. He has shown offensive upside throughout his Ferris State career, including a 14-goal, 24-point campaign as a sophomore.

His Runners-Up: Chris Auger, UMass Lowell; Joe Colborne, Denver; Cory Conacher, Canisius; Brad Hunt, Bemidji State; David McIntyre, Colgate

The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop

What better way to get the holiday season started the right way than by offering some delights in the college hockey schedule? This week’s slate includes seven games on Tuesday—including a couple of good matchups when Colgate visits Cornell and Massachusetts visits Vermont—and a pair of games on Wednesday. The non-conference matchups highlight the weekend slate with Miami, Bemidji State, and Ohio State heading to North Dakota for the Subway Holiday Classic and  Michigan State and Michigan hosting Wisconsin and Minnesota in the annual College Hockey Showcase.

As reported by Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, WCHA brass recently conducted an emergency conference call with the NCAA Rules Committee. It seems they wanted a clarification on hits to the head. Chris Dilks of the Western College Hockey Blog reported on the answer the WCHA received, as issued by NCAA secretary-rules editor Steve Piotrowski:

“A player shall not make contact with an opposing player’s head or neck area in any manner,” and added the notation: “The rules committee instructs officials to use a zero tolerance policy in this area.”

Seems pretty clear to us, and we didn’t need a conference call.

“At the end of the first (period), stuff really got wild and the last two periods were nuts. It was really fun to play in. I felt a little tired, maybe more from my exams schedule, but overall I felt pretty good.”

“It’s definitely entertaining to watch and entertaining to be a part of. Testosterone gets going amongst the guys.”

Denver goalie Marc Cheverie uttered both of those quotes to the Denver Post’s Mike Chambers following Friday’s 34-save, 1-0 shutout win over North Dakota. Not surprisingly, the contest featured numerous post-whistle scrums and plenty of tenacity between the clubs. We get the feeling that Chevy wouldn’t have minded the old-time hockey era.

Honestly, the weekly First Shift isn’t meant to be used solely as a metaphorical Michigan punching bag even though it might seem like it in recent weeks. So this week we’re not so much pointing toward the Wolverines’ on-ice performance as much as the national rankings voters that have deemed their efforts thus far worthy of recognition. Michigan, tied for ninth place in the CCHA and a team with a 5-7-0 overall record received enough points to rank second of others receiving votes (22nd) in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll and fourth of others receiving votes (19th) in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.

@Steve Rushin Got hatted at the Giants game y’day. Lady asked for ID. I removed my hat. She howled at my bald head and handed me a beer.

The more senior members of the INCH staff nodded and chuckled after reading the tweet from Rushin, the former Sports Illustrated scribe. Sometimes it is easier to doff the cap instead of digging your driver’s license out of your pocket. Humbling? Yes, but still more convenient.

First-year Sacred Heart head coach C.J. Marottolo has guided the Pioneers to a 3-4-1 overall mark and a 2-1-1 record in league play.

Sacred Heart University hired former Yale assistant coach C.J. Marottolo on Oct. 9, right as the college hockey season was starting. Marottolo replaces Shaun Hannah, who resigned in September for family reasons, and becomes the newest head coach in Atlantic Hockey.

Marottolo, 43, played for Choate Rosemary Hall and four years at Northeastern. He was a player-coach in France for two years before retiring. John Dunham offered Marottolo a graduate assistant coaching job at Trinity College in 1992 and he’s been in the coaching business ever since.

Marottolo was enthralled with the Sacred Heart campus and the employees in the athletic department from the first. “Now that I’ve gotten the job, my instincts are right,” he said. “It’s a great place and I am loving every minute of it.”

The Pioneers have gotten off to a 3-4-1 start, including a 2-2-1 mark in Atlantic Hockey.

Inside College Hockey interviewed Marottolo this week and got his thoughts on the new job and the challenges of taking over a program so close to the start of the season.

INCH: Why did you apply for this job?

Marottolo: There are so few jobs and so many great candidates. There’s a lot of people out there that are assistant coaches who would be wonderful head coaches. It’s so difficult to get these head coaching jobs.

The home run part of the whole equation for me was a head coaching job where I didn’t have to move my family at this late a date. My family is very important to me.

INCH: Were you worried about not being able to get a Division I head coaching job?

Marottolo: You never know what’s in store for you. It was wonderful at Yale. I wasn’t getting discouraged because I loved my job at Yale, I loved the people there and I loved the kids. I grew up watching Yale hockey, I played Yale youth hockey. It was great for me to be able to work at Yale. I spent most of my life at Yale, from a young kid until I left Yale this year. Working at Yale was a dream job, so, no, I was happy at Yale but when a head coaching job came up and I didn’t have to move, you couldn’t ask for anything better.

INCH: You took over a team right as the new season was beginning. How difficult was that?

Marottolo: It’s been a whirlwind. The team had already played an exhibition game and had been practicing. I was on the ice with the team one week prior to us going to RPI and Union. It’s been great. The guys have been working extremely hard on and off the ice. I really like the kids on this team.

INCH: You had a week or so to have all your contract and school paperwork finalized. What did you do in the meantime?

Marottolo: I couldn’t go on the ice with the team until that Monday before we played RPI and Union. I had a week where I was with the team but I couldn’t go on the ice for practice because I had to go through my background check and drug test and for insurance purposes—I hadn’t signed the contract yet. I was running practice from the bench and not going on the ice. It was a unique perspective because I got to sit back and watch. The assistant coaches were kind of doing things on the ice, so I got to evaluate the guys for a week without having to be on the ice with them. I learned a lot. I didn’t pick up their names until the St. Lawrence weekend.

INCH: So how did you address the players?

Marottolo: I was thinking of putting names on the back of helmets so during the game I would know who was who because I didn’t know the numbers. There was a lot of, ‘Hey, 25, get out there.’ The guys got a kick out of it.

INCH: What were the first things you wanted to accomplish with the team?

Marottolo: Shaun Hannah did a great job with that program. Sacred Heart is an emerging school in a lot of ways. The first thing I wanted to do in my first team meeting was telling them about myself and what I demand as a coach. I explained to them I want everybody, first and foremost, on this team to have an incredible work ethic and I want you to love to come to the rink with a smile on your face and eager to go. Everything after that will fall into place. I think we’ve accomplished that.

A lot has to be attributed to the senior group, who have done a tremendous job of setting the tone prior to me getting the job. We talked about a lot of things as a team and our goals, right now, will stay within our locker room.

INCH: What is possible with this team?

Marottolo: I think everything is possible. We’re very excited about how the team is evolving. It’s still a learning curve.

INCH: How do you like being a head coach, where all the responsibility is yours?

Marottolo: It’s great. Part of being the head guy is having good support people. (Assistant coach) Lou Santini, who stayed after the coaching change, has been terrific. He told me this is what we should be doing and what we shouldn’t be doing. He has been a great sounding board for me. Don Cook, the athletic director, has been unbelievable.

INCH: Did you get a lot of well wishes for your new job?

Marottolo: I’ve got hundreds of text messages. I have gotten notes. … The hockey coaching community is terrific, for them to take time out of their day to think about somebody else.

INCH: Who are your hockey influences?

Marottolo: A great influence was (former Yale head coach) Tim Taylor, and not just in hockey. It was about how he treated people and treated players as people, how he treated parents and recruits in the process. I learned a lot about integrity—it’s so important in this business. Keith Allain, I have taken a lot from. He is a wonderful new coach at Yale who has done an outstanding job. A big person in my life who I learned a lot from is my father (Carl). He was a youth hockey coach and I take a lot of things from him. He was one of the founding fathers of the Yale youth hockey program and ran the Yale clinic for a long time.

INCH: What is your favorite NHL team?

Marottolo: My favorite team would the Rangers.

INCH: Aside from the obvious of winning a championship, what do you want to accomplish as a head coach?

Marottolo: I want the young men who choose to come to Sacred Heart to leave Sacred Heart with a wonderful hockey experience. I want them to come into Sacred Heart as boys and have them leave as men, and have them understand about integrity and dignity and know how to treat people. I want them to do the right thing when no one is watching. I want them to understand it’s important for them to be good people. I want them to be good husbands, good friends, and good fathers. That would make me feel like I have done a good job as a coach.