There’s a logjam atop the Atlantic Hockey standings with six weeks to go but one team that is making a decided run to the top is Connecticut.

Garrett Bartus

The Huskies have opened the new year on a roll, sweeping Niagara at home and Canisius on the road. The eight-point surge has pushed the Huskies into a third-place tie with Air Force and Robert Morris with UConn holding a tie-breaker edge with one more victory.

Connecticut leapfrogged three teams with the 6-2, 4-3 sweep of Canisius in Buffalo – it was the first time Canisius has lost a home set since Holy Cross did the trick in Oct. 2009. Junior Garrett Bartus posted both wins, stopping 54 shots, to even his record at 10-10-2. Returning all-star Cole Schneider had three goals and an assist – two of his tallies came in the final 10 minutes on Sunday as the Huskies rallied from a deficit. Schneider has a point in 13 of his last 14 contests and leads the team with 26 points, one point off the league lead.

Three members of Schneider’s sophomore class have also vaulted to the team lead in points. Brant Harris leads the team with 13 goals and has 21 assists. Billy Lattta has 19 points and Jordan Sims has 18.

Connecticut’s offensive output is slightly down from last year but the defense is allowing one fewer goal per game (2.59). Another notable improvement is the power play – the Huskies lead Atlantic Hockey with a 28.3 percent conversion rate, nine full points ahead of last season.

When the league returns to Eastern and Western pod schedules next week, Connecticut faces a favorable schedule. The Huskies are already 6-2 at Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs, and the remaining league slate has seven home contests out of 11.

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

If the playoffs were to start today – Mercyhurst, RIT, Connecticut and Air Force would own the first-round byes. The best-of-three series would pit No. 12 Sacred Heart at No. 5 Robert Morris; No. 11 Army at No. 6 Bentley; No. 10 American International at No. 7 Holy Cross; and, No. 9 Canisius at No. 8 Niagara. Of course, only five points separates first place from eighth place and there’s still six-plus weeks to go.

Tigers maul Pioneers – Rochester Institute of Technology pulled off a couple rarities in college hockey, posting consecutive shutouts and scoring double digits. Playing like pros in Bridgeport’s AHL arena, the Tigers romped over Sacred Heart 10-0 on Saturday and 3-0 on Sunday. The 10 goals set a Div. I school record. The last double-digit output was a 12-2 win over Lebanon Valley on Feb. 18, 2005. Single-game marks of 17 assists and 27 points (by 14 different players) were set, and five third-period goals tied a mark. The last time RIT posted consecutive road shutouts was Feb. 4 and 6, 1981.

Tiger honors – With such a huge weekend in Bridgeport, it’s no wonder RIT secured three of the top weekly awards. Michael Colavecchia scored four goals and had an assist, securing player of the week honors. His Saturday hat trick was only the sixth in RIT’s brief Division I history. He leads the team with 20 points, split evenly. Shane Madolora posted consecutive shutouts for the second time in his career, stopping all 41 shots, to earn goalie of the week honors. He has a 2.00 goals against overall and 1.54 in league play. Madolora’s five shutouts ranks second in the nation, and he has 11 for his career. Forward Brad McGowan earned rookie of the week honors, posting a goal and two assists. His 10 points, split evenly between goals and assists, leads all RIT first-year players.

Lost weekend – It’s not often Air Force comes out on the short end of a weekend home series. Air Force forged a 2-2 draw with Bentley on Friday and lost 2-1 on Saturday, falling to 0-3-2 in its last five games. Bentley sophomore Branden Komm made 40 saves in the tie, the fourth time he has stopped at least 40 shots, and he made 19 saves in Bentley’s first win at Air Force since 2006. Komm has allowed two-or-fewer goals in 12 of 18 starts, including four in a row and in his last 10 league contests.

Niagara swamps Army – Niagara swept a home series with Army, prevailing 5-1 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday. Army has lost four in a row and is 1-9-4 in its last 14. Chris Noonan stopped 67 of 68 shots to post the wins, and the shutout was the second of his career. Noonan dipped his goals against under two to 1.99 (tied for sixth nationally) and improved his save percentage to .934 (tied for third in the nation). Marc Zanette had two goals and an assist.

Slowed but not undaunted – Just because you sit in first place doesn’t guarantee a road win. Mercyhurst bowed at American International 3-2 on Friday but responded with a 7-2 win on Saturday. Mercyhurst junior Paul Chiasson had three goals on eight shots. Forward Nardo Nagtzaam had a goal and two assists in the second contest, earning rookie of the week honors. He has nine goals and 12 assists in 22 contests. Laker sophomore Jordan Tibbett made his first start in 15 months and posted his first career win with a 27-save performance. AIC’s Blake Peake had a goal and four assists.

A narrow split – Robert Morris pulled out a 4-3 overtime win over Holy Cross on Friday, but the Crusaders evened the score with a 1-0 victory on Saturday. Derek Kump made 29 saves for his first collegiate shutout. Erik Vos had three of Holy Cross’ goals, raising his total to a career-high 10. Robert Morris goalie Brooks Ostergard actually raised his save percentage to .934, ranking second in the nation. Colonial freshman Cody Wydo score twice – his 11 goals is tied for third among the nation’s rookies.

Power outage – Army has scored three goals in just five contests this season, going 1-1-3. When scoring two goals, Army is 1-2-2. The Black Knights have scored one goal or been shut out in 10 of 21 games (0-9-1).

Powerless Pioneers – Sacred Heart did itself no favors in its 10-0 and 3-0 losses to RIT. The Pioneers failed on all 14 power play opportunities.

Academies on display – Friday’s Air Force-Army game at West Point will be televised by CBS Sports Network at 7:30 p.m. Both weekend games at Tate Rink have been sold out.

Coming up – It’s the final weekend of East vs. West pod play, with the final five weeks reserved for geographic rivals. Heading East are Mercyhurst (at Holy Cross), RIT (at Bentley), Robert Morris (at Connecticut) and Air Force (at Army). West-bound clubs are AIC (at Niagara) and Sacred Heart (at Canisius; both games are afternoon tilts). Mercyhurst won the last four against Holy Cross but they all came in Erie; the Lakers are 15-4 in Worcester.

Stevie Moses

STEVIE MOSES
New Hampshire
Sr. | F | Leominster, Mass.

His Statistics: Five goals in the Wildcats’ wins against Providence and Dartmouth, including the lone tally in UNH’s 1-0 win at Schneider Arena Wednesday and four goals in a a 4-1 victory over the Big Green in Manchester, N.H., Saturday.

His Impact: It hasn’t been a banner year for New Hampshire—the Wildcats enter the week in eighth place in the Hockey East standings, just one point ahead of ninth-place Northeastern—but it’s been a pretty good one for Stevie Moses. The senior forward took over first place in the Hockey East goal scoring race this past weekend, netting the lone goal in UNH’s 1-0 win at Providence Wednesday, then added four goals Saturday as the Wildcats cruised past Dartmouth, 4-1, in a non-conference match in Manchester, N.H.

Moses, who also scored four goals in his team’s Nov. 26 win against Alabama-Huntsville, leads the Wildcats with 16 goals, 26 points, and five power-play goals.

His Runners Up: Michael Colavecchia, RIT; Troy Grosenick, Union; Alex Guptill, Michigan; Drew Shore, Denver

North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol took swift and decisive action against Ben Blood Monday, pulling the ‘A’ from the senior defenseman’s sweater for his role in a confrontation in the postgame handshake line Saturday following NoDak’s 6-2 loss to visiting Minnesota.

“Regardless of any provocation, Ben’s actions in the postgame handshake were not acceptable,” Hakstol said in a prepared statement. “The handshake is a traditional, gentlemanly part of our game where, at the end of a hard-fought battle, opponents show good sportsmanship and shake hands like men.”

Blood tussled with Minnesota freshman forwards Seth Ambroz and Kyle Rau in the handshake line. Blood was possibly provoked by a slash from a Minnesota player late in the third period of the game, and as the final horn sounded Saturday, Blood whistled a slap shot that hit Ambroz, resulting in a brief skirmish.

It’s a tough way for Hakstol to teach Blood a lesson, but it’s the right move. Ultimately, this experience will make Blood a better player, a better teammate, and a better leader.

After perusing the social networks on a weekly basis, we’re inundated with complaining. From your favorite team’s results to downgrading a rival, travel woes or even the weather, people are always complaining. Why should we pile on and bring more negative into the world? Instead, we present this:

What Happened?: OK, OK, so we’re probably beating a dead horse at this point, but it’s our horse and it’s our beatin’ to dole out. One of the aspects of outdoor hockey games that we enjoy is that often teams will wear an alternate sweater for the special event, and that was the case over the last few weeks. While New Hampshire and Maine stuck to their tried-and-true uniform looks, as well as Michigan and Union in alternate black sweaters, other teams presented new looks to mixed results. Our favorite of the bunch were the designs sported by Harvard, and we were less impressed by Ohio State’s pseudo-pajama look. Northeastern wore red against Boston College, dressed in gold; and one week earlier Massachusetts sported a big M on the crest of their sweater against Vermont with a retro diagonal UVM on their road greens.

What We’re Watching: Usually, it’s the time of the year when we’ve got a pretty good idea of which teams have established themselves as the truly elite groups in college hockey. This year, that seems to be a bit murkier. Some of the top teams really haven’t run away from the pack and other contenders are showing obvious flaws. You don’t have to look much further than the overall records. At this time last year, eight teams in the country had 15 wins or more. This year, there are just two – Minnesota (16) and Minnesota Duluth (15). We’ll see what happens over the next six or seven weeks, but all indicators point to a wide-open playoff season where any number of teams could make legitimate championship runs.

What The …?: It’s not often that you see a coaching staff or bench assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for working the referees, as the officials usually exercise a degree of restraint to accompany the requisite thick skin required to do the job. That wasn’t the case Sunday at Clarkson, where both benches were whistled for unsportsmanlike minors during the game. Yale’s unsportsmanlike penalty came in overtime, giving Clarkson a power play that the Golden Knights converted for a victory. Whoa.

@TheRoEbOaT9 Garrett Roe

Some people are pretenders and just run from adversity. Especially guys who flake and transfer schools midseason. #bestofluck #kidding

• That tweet from former St. Cloud State forward Garrett Roe was a not-so-veiled shot at sophomore Mitch MacMillan, an ex-teammate of Roe who decided to transfer to North Dakota where his brother, Mark, is a freshman forward. Roe now plays for the Adirondack Phantoms of the American Hockey League. Sure, it’s tough to lose a player to a rival via transfer, but Roe’s objection seems over the top.

Sure, we’ve mocked the proliferation of outdoor hockey games in the past. And, some would argue, rightly so. This weekend, however, isn’t the time to get up on our soapbox. Sure, there are outdoor games on the slate, but this time around it’s more than just a spectacle—these contests will play significant roles in the races for league titles in the CCHA, ECAC Hockey, and Hockey East.

Fenway Park is the site of Friday's important ECAC Hockey showdown pitting Union against Danny Biega and Harvard.

Outdoor Hockey (Fri.-Sat-Sun.): As outdoor games have proliferated throughout the years, one of the strangest facts about them in our eyes is that most of them have been league contests and factored in the standings. That’s the case again this weekend when three prominent games involving league rivals take place on baseball diamonds. It starts with Friday’s game at Fenway Park where Union and Harvard meet in an ECAC Hockey contest. They played last week and tied 3-3 at Union’s home rink. That’s followed Saturday at the same site where Boston College and Northeastern will meet. Northeastern is one of the nation’s hottest teams, but had a slow start in Hockey East games. They’ll have a chance to knock off the league’s first-place team.  Sunday, it’s the second-half of a two-game weekend when Michigan and Ohio State will play at Progressive Field in Cleveland, home of the Cleveland Indians. Ohio State currently leads the CCHA with a 10-3-3 league record and owns a seven-point advantage over Notre Dame and Western Michigan.

Minnesota at North Dakota (Fri.-Sat.): While there’s a tendency to believe these teams are trending in opposite directions, that isn’t really the case. Sure, the Gophers aren’t crushing their opponents’ skulls like they did during the first six weeks of the season and North Dakota has played light years better than it did during its 4-7-1 start, but the roles haven’t completely reversed.

Minnesota is deeper and more talented than the injury-riddled North Dakotans, but the Gophers can be maddeningly inconsistent—those who witnessed the boatload of giveaways and odd-man rushes against in last weekend’s loss to Notre Dame can certainly attest to that. NoDak, meanwhile, has been relying almost solely on the Corban Knight-Danny Kristo-Brock Nelson line for offense and the re-emergence of goalie Aaron Dell, who has a 1.97 GAA and a .923 save percentage in his last seven starts. But credit coach Dave Hakstol and his staff for patching together a lineup that has clicked thus far.

Notre Dame vs. Western Michigan (Fri. at Notre Dame; Sat. at Kalamazoo): The Fighting Irish and Broncos enter the weekend tied for second in the CCHA standings, seven points behind first-place Ohio State. Notre Dame comes into the home-and-home with a little momentum courtesy of impressive wins against nationally ranked Boston University and Minnesota; the Irish also appear to have found a no. 1 goaltender in Steve Summerhays. Western Michigan was swept by top-ranked Minnesota Duluth last weekend, but the games were closer than the final scores indicate—both nights, the Broncos led after one period and were tied heading into the third period.

Minnesota Duluth at Nebraska-Omaha (Fri.-Sat.): About a week ago, Dean Blais and Scott Sandelin were guiding the U.S. entry at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Alberta. This weekend, the two coaches will patrol opposite benches as Sandelin’s top-ranked Bulldogs head to Omaha to face Blais and the Mavericks. UMD hasn’t lost in forever, but this might be the time and place its 16-game unbeaten streak ends. UNO can keep pace with the Bulldogs offensively, but whether or not the Mavs get reliable goaltending will likely spell the difference here. More that 15,000 fans are expected to pack CenturyLink Center Friday; when it comes to big games, dating back to the old Bullpen, Mavs crowds have historically risen to the occasion and given their team a boost.

Also: That creeping sound you hear is preseason Frozen Four favorite Miami ever so slightly tiptoeing back into the race for the CCHA regular-season title. The RedHawks get the chance to run down one of the teams ahead of them in the league standings, Lake Superior State, this weekend. … Big showdown in Hockey East this weekend as Maine travels to Merrimack for a two-game set. The Black Bears have won seven of their last eight while the Warriors are 2-4-2 in their last eight … Neither Dartmouth nor New Hampshire are having the type of seasons they envisioned. Still, the battle for the RiverStone Cup has routinely been one of the better non-league games in recent years. The teams faceoff Saturday in Manchester, N.H.

A pair of weekend losses at Wisconsin has not dampened the spirits of a Rochester Institute of Technology hockey team that was coming off a pair of wins over nationally ranked foes during the holiday break.

The Tigers competed in the Catamount Cup in Burlington, Vt., and came away with a 3-0 win over No. 11 Ferris State and a 3-1 victory over No. 16 Lake Superior State.

Fresh off two losses to the Badgers (6-3 and 2-1), coach Wayne Wilson is nonetheless encouraged by the efforts of his team.

Chris Saracino leads RIT defensemen with nine points, including a goal at Wisconsin

“I am really happy with the way we played,’’ Wilson said of the Wisconsin series. “We played smart and consistent, not only through one complete game but through a complete weekend.’’

RIT carries a 9-8-3 overall record into the second half of Atlantic Hockey play. The Tigers sit in fourth place in a very tight race with 17 points and a 7-3-3 mark.

Wisconsin’s Justin Schultz had two goals and two assists in the Friday win, and Jake McCabe tallied the game-winner at 3:20 of the third period on Saturday. For RIT, Matt Garbowsky, Adam Mitchell and Adam Hartley scored in the opener and Chris Saracino had the lone tally on Saturday. Shane Madolora had 27 saves in the first meeting and Jordan Ruby made 17 stops in the nightcap.

“You can’t always control results of games,’’ Wilson said. “We were .500 after beating two ranked teams in Vermont and the two games with Wisconsin, and none of them were at home. I thought we responded well.’’

Four of Wisconsin’s eight goals came on the power play.

“I thought we played well, particularly five-on-five against Wisconsin,’’ Wilson said. “We held them to two shots in the second period – that speaks volumes for how we were playing at that time. The difference was special teams and yet our power play played well, although we didn’t get as many goals as we would have liked.’’

RIT was 1-for-7 with the man advantage.

Wilson said he learned a lot about his team over the first three months of the season, and decided to scale back his team’s aggressiveness to put less pressure on Madolora and the defense.

“We’ve had to be a little smarter since we came back from Christmas break,’’ Wilson said. “We aren’t taking as many aggressive risks, aggressive chances … For me, it’s always risk and reward – if you are not being rewarded playing a certain way, you have to change, it’s not worth the risk.’’

The proof came in the two wins in Vermont, and went a long way in selling Wilson’s new approach to his troops.

“When you tinker with some things and then all of a sudden you talk about it, you address it and you beat two ranked teams, now the coach is believable so the guys believe in it, too,’’ Wilson said.

RIT has won the Atlantic Hockey regular-season title four times (outright in 2006-07, 2009-10 and 2010-11; shared with Air Force in 2008-09) and placed second once (2007-08), but the battle figures to be much harder this season with more parity.

“We want to win the league, so I don’t want to dodge that,’’ Wilson said. “It’s still not our ultimate goal, I guess. For us, our goal, the one that stands out the most, is making it to the NCAAs.’’

Is there pressure to repeat?

“There’s a little bit of an internal pressure,’’ he said, “but it’s a positive thing. It’s nice when you are playing at home, in particular, and your fans have an expectation of winning. That pushes you as a player and a coach and as a group to play well. You just can’t mail an effort in and say, ‘Who’s going to notice?’ That’s positive.’’

RIT, in the midst of nine consecutive road games, returns to Atlantic Hockey play this weekend with a pair of games against Sacred Heart, to be played at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn., home of the American Hockey League’s SoundTigers. The college-pro doubleheaders have created unique start times of 4 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday.

“That’s different,’’ Wilson said, “but it might be good to mix things up.’’

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

Top December honors – Michael Colavecchia of RIT was named the Atlantic Hockey player of the month, Brooks Ostergard of Robert Morris was named the top goalie and Holy Cross netminder Matt Ginn was the rookie of the month.
Colavecchia had eight points in seven games, helping the Tigers to a 5-2-0 record and championship in the Catamount Cup, where he was named to the all-tourney team.

RIT coach Wayne Wilson had praise for Colavecchia.

“He’s played very well, he’s come through for us,’’ Wilson said. “I think he’s very determined. He works hard, after practice and before practice. He has a strong desire to get better.’’

Ostergard was 3-1-1 during December, reaching a high of seven games unbeaten before suffering a setback. In four of his five appearances, Ostergard made at least 29 saves, including 47 against Niagara. His 4-0 win over RIT was his first shutout of the season and third of his career.

Ginn posted a 3-1 record, 1.51 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. He recorded his first collegiate shutout on Dec. 4, making 14 stops against Canisius.

Top weekly honors – Cole Schneider and Garrett Bartus of Connecticut earned player and goalie of the week awards, respectively, and Daniel Bahntge of Mercyhurst was the top rookie.

Schneider, a sophomore, posted his second career hat trick in a 4-2 win over Niagara on Friday and had an assist on the game-winning goal in a 2-0 win over the Purple Eagles on Saturday. Schneider has points in 11 of his last 12 games and leads the Huskies with 22 points.

Bartus, a junior, stopped 67 shots in the two wins, posting a .971 save percentage. The shutout win was his third of the season and career.

Bahntge, a forward, had four goals and two assists in the sweep of Sacred Heart. He had a career-high four points in Friday’s 9-1 win. His 20 points leads the Lakers.

East trumps West – Holy Cross secured three of four points with visiting Air Force, Connecticut swept Niagara and Bentley took three of four points from visiting Robert Morris. The Air Force loss in Worcester was its first since 2004 and first against the host Crusaders in Atlantic Hockey play. Holy Cross is off to its best league (7-4-1) and overall (9-9-1) starts since the championship 2005-06 season.

Top Lakers – Mercyhurst’s sweep of Sacred Heart left the Lakers in sole possession of first place. At 12-8-2, this is the quickest Mercyhurst has reached 12 wins since the 2005-06 season.

Charitable – Army hosted a prostate cancer awareness night, deemed the “House of Blues,’’ on Saturday before a sell-out crowd of 2,625. The Black Knights wore special blue uniforms, their fifth different sweater this season. Army fans went home feeling blue after Canisius posted its first sweep at West Point – the Golden Griffins were 4-12-2 all-time at West Point prior to the series.

Stay ‘til the end – Late goals proved decisive in the Bentley-Robert Morris series. Alex Grieve snapped a 1-1 tie with 9.7 seconds remaining to lift Bentley to the Friday win. Cody Wydo of Robert Morris netted the equalizer with two seconds left in Saturday’s draw.

Coming up – League play resumes with six weekend series. Army travels to Niagara, Holy Cross goes to Robert Morris, American International hosts Mercyhurst and Air Force hosts Bentley in Friday-Saturday sets. Connecticut travels to Canisius and RIT takes on Sacred Heart in Saturday-Sunday sets.
Air Force is 13-1-2 against Bentley since 2007. Niagara is 5-1 all-time versus Army.

CONNOR KNAPP
Miami
Sr. | F | York, N.Y.

His Statistics: Backstopped the RedHawks to two wins at Michigan State—including a 4-0 shutout Saturday—by turning aside all but one of the 54 shots he faced on the weekend.

His Impact: A preseason Frozen Four favorite basically written off after losing six of eight in October, Miami has crept to within three points of second-place Notre Dame and Western Michigan in the CCHA standings thanks to a 9-3-3 record since Nov. 1.

Knapp was the hero for the RedHawks in their sweep of Michigan State in East Lansing. He made 33 saves in his team’s 2-1 overtime win Friday, then stopped all 20 shots he faced in Saturday’s series finale. Knapp, who started the year by losing three of his first four starts, is 4-1-0 in his last five appearances. During that span, he’s lowered his GAA by a full goal (from 3.17 to 2.17) while boosting his save percentage from .888 to .917.

His Runners-Up: Daniel Bahntge, Mercyhurst; Daniel Carr, Union; Joey Diamond, Maine; Carter Rowney, North Dakota

Charles “Lefty” Smith never led the Notre Dame hockey team to an NCAA Tournament appearance, nor did he guide them to a conference regular-season or playoff championship. Heck, in his 19 seasons as the Fighting Irish head coach, the team won 20 or more games in a season just four times.

That said, Notre Dame would have never soared to its recent heights without Smith, who passed away last week just two days shy of 82nd birthday. In 1968, after a successful 10-year stint as a high school coach in South St. Paul, Minn., he guided the Irish from their modern-day debut  as a Division I independent to membership in the WCHA, then the CCHA and, ultimately, back to independent status. A number of standouts played for Smith—Bill Nyrop, Jack Brownschidle, Greg Meredith, and Dave Poulin, to name a few—but his most notable achievement might be that each of the 126 players who played for him completed their college eligibility and earned degrees.

After stepping down as head coach in 1987, he became facilities manager at the school’s Loftus Sports Center, a post he held until his retirement last month. The main ice sheet at Notre Dame’s Compton Family Ice Arena bears his name.

We’re at that point in the college hockey season when people start talking about the PairWise Rankings, even though they’re only relevant for a matter of hours on the day the NCAA Tournament field is selected. And while we really don’t pay attention to the ups and downs of the computer rankings, they did catch our eye when we noticed that Northern Michigan is currently tied for sixth in PWR.

No disrespect to the Wildcats, who’ve had a decent season thus far, but does anyone really believe they’re better than Minnesota (eighth in the Pairwise), Merrimack (tied for 11th), Colgate (21st), or Union (26th)? One could legitimately argue that NMU is the sixth-best team in the state of Michigan. Fortunately, these types of things have a way of working themselves out in the end.

What Happened: Most of the players who returned from the recently completed World Junior Championship in Calgary and Edmonton slotted right back into their college lineups over the weekend, but in two notable instances players were held out of action. Canada’s Jaden Schwartz wasn’t in the Friday night lineup for Colorado College, which lost that night to visiting Cornell. Canada had played in the bronze-medal game the day before. United States captain Jason Zucker had the entire weekend off as Denver split a non-conference series with Alabama-Huntsville.

What We’re Watching: Hey, anybody notice we’re in the midst of another bunch of outdoor hockey games during this two-week span? Fenway Park hosted a Hockey East doubleheader on Saturday and will host two more games this weekend when Harvard plays Union and Boston College faces Northeastern. Michigan and Ohio State will play this weekend at the home of the Cleveland Indians. Here’s our take—there sure are a lot of these games seemingly every season. The concept is still a cool one and while it’s no longer a unique spectacle, it’s unique to most of the participating teams and cities that are getting on board. Far be it from us to chastise them for providing and enjoying the outdoor hockey experience.

What the … ? Cheers and congratulations go out to the Northern Michigan duo of Matt Thurber and Andrew Cherniwchan as each recorded a hat trick in the Wildcats’ 7-3 win over Alaska on Saturday night in Marquette. It was the first time that happened for a Northern Michigan team since the 1991-92 season.

@saveuahhockey Save UAH Hockey

Did we mention that Denver was #11 and that this loss probably puts them out of the NCAA postseason? No? Well, now you know. — GFM

• OK, hold on a second here. We’re not taking anything away from Alabama-Huntsville’s excellent 3-2 win at Denver on Friday night, it probably supplanted Sacred Heart’s November win over Yale as the biggest upset of the season. But to claim that it affects Denver’s postseason standing is a little out of whack. If the Pioneers take care of business in the WCHA over the rest of the season, earn a top-four finish and make it to the Final Five, they’re going to be in the NCAAs no problem.

There’s no better way to get the second half of the season underway than with a slate of games that is arguably, from top to bottom, the best weekend of college hockey to date. In addition to a slew of games pitting ranked foes against one another, there are a few important conference matchups, a handful of intriguing non-league affairs, and a couple neutral-site games.

Chase Balisy and Western Michigan will try to snap Minnesota Duluth's 14-game unbeaten streak this weekend in Kalamazoo.

Minnesota Duluth at Western Michigan (Fri.-Sat.)
UMD hasn’t lost since mid-October, but the top-ranked Bulldogs haven’t played in nearly a month. They’ll face a Western Michigan team that has bounced back from a four-game Novemeber losing streak to post a 4-1-2 mark its last seven games. Lawson Ice Arena has been a tough venue for road teams even in the Broncos’ lean years, but since the start of the 2010-11 season, WMU is 19-7-4 at home. No question the place will be electric this weekend—both games will be sellouts, and the Lawson Lunatics will bring the venom usually reserved for visits from Michigan and Michigan State.

Notre Dame at Minnesota (Sat.)
The Fighting Irish and Gophers are similar in a few respects—both have slowed after getting out to strong starts, welcome back key players following a stint for the U.S. team at the World Junior Tournament, and boast deep, talented lineups virtually bereft of seniors. Minnesota has the edge in goal with Kent Patterson, but Notre Dame could get a boost if forward Anders Lee, a Twin Cities native who snapped a nine-game goal drought by scoring twice against Boston University last week, is back on track. This game starts a difficult month-long stretch for the Gophers, who follow this contest with league series against North Dakota, Colorado College, St. Cloud State, and Denver.

Merrimack at Boston University (Fri.)
Merrimack at Boston College (Sun.)
It’s too early to call this a make-or-break weekend for Merrimack, but it’s a noteworthy weekend on the schedule in evaluating exactly where the Warriors stand among the top teams in Hockey East. While they’ve already posted an overtime win over BU earlier this season, this back-to-back set will be more telling as to how Merrimack stacks up. After starting the season 9-0-1 through 10 games, Merrimack is just 2-3-2 in its last seven. Boston College comes into the weekend following a third-place finish at the Great Lakes Invitational and Boston University suffered a 5-2 loss to Notre Dame during the holiday break. It’s a good chance for all three teams to start the second half in a positive manner.

Cornell at Colorado College (Fri.-Sat.)
Cornell heads to Colorado College for a two-game series this weekend before both teams head into an extended stretch of conference play to close the year. Keep an eye on the officiating standard as both teams have been tremendously proficient on the power play and relatively poor in penalty killing. CC is fifth in the country with a 25.3 percent conversion rate while Cornell is sixth at 23.9 percent. One big difference between the power-play units is that Colorado College has been stung for seven short-handed goals against while Cornell has not conceded any. While short-handed, both teams rank in the last 13 teams nationally as Cornell is 46th with a 78.2 penalty-kill success rate and Colorado College has killed off 77.6 percent, which ranks 48th.

Also: RIT, fresh off wins against top-20 opponents Ferris State and Lake Superior State at the Catamount Cup in Burington, Vt., last weekend, can add to its non-conference resume this weekend when it travels to Madison to face Wisconsin. … Speaking of Ferris, the Bulldogs have followed a 9-2-0 start by posting a 2-6-1 mark in their last nine games. They host Colgate, owners of a seven-game unbeaten streak. … Safe to say no one expected Michigan and Miami to be eighth and ninth, respectively, in the CCHA standings at the midway point of the season. Both teams can make up ground this weekend on teams they’re chasing—the Wolverines host fourth-place Lake Superior State and the RedHawks visit sixth-place Michigan State. … In the spirit of the original Winnipeg Jets, we encourage everyone attending Saturday’s Clarkson-North Dakota game in the ‘Peg to wear white. … They’ll be playing two games at Fenway Park Saturday—it’s Vermont against Massachusetts in one and New Hampshire and Maine in the other. We expect big things from the Black Bears’ Joey Diamond.

TERRIERS TAKE TIME TO REGROUP

The annual break for exams and finals is normally a down time for a team to rest and regroup for the second half of the season. For Boston University, however, the three-week span between games couldn’t have been more tumultuous.

Chris Connolly

First came the dismissal of senior Corey Trivino following an alcohol-related incident on campus on Dec. 12. Four days later, sophomore Charlie Coyle, training with the United States team in advance of the World Junior Championships, announced he was leaving to sign with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. At the time of their departures, Trivino and Coyle ranked first and fifth on the Terrier roster in scoring, with a combined 16 goals and 15 assists between the pair.

The Terriers began putting things back together upon the team’s return from the holiday break, despite returning to action with a disappointing 5-2 loss at Notre Dame on New Year’s Eve.

“We had a great practice before we left Boston; practices were really, really sharp,” said head coach Jack Parker following the game against the Irish. “The turmoil (of the break) was over once we started practice on the 26th, and people had different roles. It’s time to move on, and nobody’s worried about it.”

“It is a big loss,” said senior captain Chris Connolly, “but I think we have a lot of depth, and it’s just going to take the adjustment of guys playing some different positions with some different players. We’re still in a very good situation – this is a very good team.

“I think everybody was excited,” Connolly added about the Terriers getting back on the ice for game action. “You spend the first half trying to put yourself in a decent position so you don’t have to dig yourself out of a hole, and I think we’d done that.”

— Kevin Zeise

EVALUATING THE CCHA

When it comes to passing judgment on college hockey teams after their performance in holiday tournaments, it can get a little tricky. Thinking back a few years to the Badger Holiday Classic, watching Yale throttle a competitive Ferris State team helped put things into perspective for both sets of Bulldogs, as Yale went on to an unforgettable loss to Boston College in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and Ferris State narrowly missed the Big Dance.

But with the dawn of 2012, the CCHA heads into the second half of its penultimate season with just as must uncertainty as they left the first half of the year.

While the current first place team, Ohio State, made it through the holiday season unscathed with a 4-2 victory over Robert Morris and second-place Notre Dame beat both Boston University and the Russian Red Stars, none of those victories give faith that these favorites will run away with the title in the second half of the year. And the successes and failures of some of the second-tier competitors in the 2011-12 title race help gray the issue even more.

With third place Western Michigan splitting a road series at St. Cloud State and eighth-place Michigan beating both Boston College and sixth-place Michigan State in the Great Lakes Invitational, it’s hard to say whether the Broncos have matured as a national contender or whether the Wolverines can bounce back to preserve the program’s NCAA Tournament streak.

If anything, we’ve learned that while the conference may lack an inarguably favorable national contender that it had in Miami, Michigan and Notre Dame in past years, but also that it’s reasonable to say that the eventual conference champ will be battle tested and perhaps ready to make the noise that has put Michigan, Notre Dame and Miami in the Frozen Four over the past few years.

In short, buckle up and enjoy the ride: it’s far from over in the CCHA.

— James V. Dowd

NORTH DAKOTA, CLARKSON VENTURE ACROSS BORDER

It sounds like something urged by Deepak Chopra or some other self-help guru: If you’re seeking identity and success, a journey of discovery to a foreign land may be useful.

The North Dakota hockey team, which now has no nickname identity (for another three years, minimum) and is seeking more non-conference success, will do just that this weekend. Dave Hakstol and company travel to Winnipeg for a single-game engagement with Clarkson on Saturday.

Dubbed the U.S. College Hockey Classic, the game will be played at the MTS Centre, home of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, which is 150 miles from the North Dakota campus in downtown Winnipeg. They’re planning to close the upper level at the 15,000-seat rink and are hoping for a crowd that fills the lower bowl. It’s the first time in nearly 60 years that NoDak has played a game in Canada.

“For us it’s not a novelty. For us it’s purely a business trip going to Winnipeg,” said Hakstol at his weekly press conference. “We have to win a hockey game. It’s a critical game for us.”

Hakstol, assistants Cary Eades and Brad Berry, and 11 of their current players are from Western Canada originally, and the coach admits that he’d been hoping to play a game in Manitoba or somewhere further west for years. When True North Sports, owners of the Jets, offered their rink, things came together over the past 18 months. Officials from College Hockey, Inc., are using the game as an opportunity to educate

a Canadian audience. They’ll host a free seminar on American college hockey at the rink before the North Dakota-Clarkson game.

“This is a great opportunity for fans in Winnipeg to get a first-hand look at the college game,” said Paul Kelly of College Hockey, Inc. “Any time new fans can see the quality of college hockey in person

it’s beneficial, and we applaud North Dakota, Clarkson and the MTS Centre for putting this event together.”

The less encouraging news for North Dakota fans is the continued mess of injuries plaguing the team. They got a win and tie with Harvard last weekend, but also lost sophomore forward Derek Rodwell for the

season with a shoulder injury. Hakstol said Corban Knight is unlikely to play against Clarkson, Rocco Grimaldi has yet to return, and Mario Lamoureux’s status is questionable for this weekend too.

In other words, the nickname category is far from the only place where North Dakota is seeking some identity as the team heads north of the border this weekend.

— Jess Myers

COLGATE VISITS FERRIS STATE IN KEY NON-LEAGUE MATCHUP

The Colgate Raiders are one of the nation’s most surprising teams so far this season and the Raiders have a chance to prove their national merit this weekend with a road trip to Ferris State against a Bulldog team that has spent the majority of the season in the national rankings. The Raiders carry a 12-4-2 record into the New Year and have rattled off a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) with the tie coming against Merrimack.

This is an uptick in the schedule for the Raiders as people start to look toward NCAA Tournament selection criteria. Colgate is one of the teams on the tournament bubble at this point and these will be the Raiders’ last two non-conference games before concluding the regular season with 14 games against ECAC Hockey opponents.

One of Colgate’s keys to success this year has been strong overall team defense. The Raiders are ranked eighth nationally in team defense by allowing just 2.17 goals per game. Sophomore goalie Eric Mihalik has handled the bulk of the goaltending duties and owns a 2.48 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 12 starts, with an 8-3-1 record. Alex Evin has a 1.48 GAA and .948 save percentage in six starts. He is 4-1-1.

Colgate can also score some goals. The Raiders are tenth in the country with a 3.39 goals per game average, of course led by the point-scoring contributions of Austin Smith. Smith leads the nation in scoring with 19 goals and 31 points.

— Joe Gladziszewski

ARMY HOPES FOR BETTER SECOND HALF

Two wins by New Year’s Day is hardly what a senior-laden Army hockey team expected. Yet, these Black Knights are not demoralized.

“Injuries have hurt us,” said senior captain Marcel Alvarez, “But, honestly, we don’t try to use that as an excuse. We have to deal with some of that the rest of the season.”

Army lost two players – freshman right winger Tyler Pistone and junior forward Mike Santee – for the entire season before the first game. Junior defenseman Cheyne Rocha was lost to a broken leg in a Nov. 19 game with Brown. Couple those season-enders with a host of other injuries ranging from a weekend to several weeks in length, and coach Brian Riley was able to field only 17 skaters in a pair of recent games, and has a number of skaters playing out of position.

At 2-9-6, this is Army’s slowest start (for wins) since the 2001-02 season. Riley remains encouraged, though, because his team has managed points – albeit through a school-record six draws – in all but two weekends.

“It’s kind of a fine line between winning and losing,” Riley said. “In three of those (ties), we had breakaways in overtime, two of them while we were short-handed. That’s how close this team has been to winning a few more games.”

Special teams play has to improve, Riley said. The good news is Army has not allowed an even-strength goal in the past three games. The bad news is the Black Knights have allowed two power-play goals in each of the past four contests.

The roster situation will get better. Senior forward Danny Colvin is expected to return for this weekend’s series against Canisius. Junior defenseman John Clark may return in a few weeks. Senior defenseman Bret Larson, out since Nov. 11, should return in February.

— Ken McMillan

Great Lakes Invitational at Detroit
Boston College vs. Michigan; Michigan State vs. Michigan Tech (Thu.)
Third-Place Game and Championship (Fri.)

The Lions are in the playoffs for the first time since 1999; maybe Brett Olson and Michigan Tech can win the Huskies' first Great Lakes Invitational title since 1981 this week in Detroit.

By far, the Great Lakes Invitational highlights the holiday tournament schedule with four participants that have all been nationally ranked at some point this season. A resurgent Michigan Tech squad was one of the first half’s pleasant surprises under new coach Mel Pearson (previously an assistant coach at Michigan) and this is MTU’s best chance at winning the title in many years. The Huskies haven’t won the tournament they host since 1981. Boston College and Michigan State have the chance to meet on Saturday, a midseason reunion of sorts after they played one of the first games of the college hockey season at the Ice Breaker in North Dakota in early October.

Air Force at Colorado College; Union at Denver (Fri.)
Denver at Air Force; Union at Colorado College (Sat.)

It’s a travel-partner sort of weekend in Colorado, which should make Union comfortable even though the Dutchmen are the geographic outlier. Three of the four teams come into this weekend set with some momentum, as Union is 4-0-2 in its last six games, Air Force has won four in a row and CC has won four of five. Denver has split its last three two-game weekends and also dropped an OT game at Colorado College earlier this month. Jason Zucker of Denver and Jaden Schwarz of Colorado College are out of the lineups, due to their involvement in international play.

Boston University at Notre Dame (Sat.)

Ringing in 2012 with a New Year’s Eve battle between the Terriers and Fighting Irish at the Compton Family Ice Arena isn’t a terrible way to spend the final days of the holiday season. Both teams could use a little good news—Notre Dame had lost four in a row before beating Ferris State in its last game prior to the break and, although BU has won seven of its last eight, the Terriers have to adapt to life without forwards Corey Trivino (booted from the team) and Charlie Coyle (off to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League after the World Junior Championship). The WJC also means lineup shuffling for both coaches, as BU is without defenseman Adam Clendening and the Irish play without defenseman Stephen Johns and forward T.J. Tynan.

Catamount Cup at Burlington, Vt.
Ferris State vs. RIT; Lake Superior State at Vermont (Thurs.)
Lake Superior State vs. RIT; Ferris State at Vermont (Fri.)

At first glance, this doesn’t seem like a marquee event but for Ferris State, Lake Superior State, and RIT, the opportunity to get two wins against quality non-conference opponents definitely helps the NCAA Tournament resume (and yes, it’s getting to that time where we have to start thinking about stuff like that and, yes, UVM has struggled to date, but a road win against a Hockey East foe never hurts.) It’s also a chance for Ferris and Lake State to start the second half of the season with a bang—both teams have lost four of its last six games.

Also: Other holiday tournaments include the UConn Hockey Classic (Army, UMass Lowell, Rensselaer, and the host Huskies) and the Florida College Classic (Clarkson, Cornell, Maine, and Massachusetts) on Thursday and Friday, and the Ledyard Bank Tournament (Holy Cross, Merrimack, St. Lawrence, and host Dartmouth) and the Mariucci Classic (Niagara, Northeastern, Princeton, and host Minnesota) on Friday and Saturday. … A trio of nice non-conference series in WCHA-land this weekend as North Dakota hosts Harvard, Western Michigan travels to St. Cloud State, and Quinnipiac visits Nebraska-Omaha. … Consol Energy Center, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins and a future Frozen Four site, hosts Friday’s game pitting Ohio State against Robert Morris. The Pens are out of town the following day, so you won’t have to worry about running into Sidney Crosby. Better yet, Sidney Crosby won’t have to worry about running into you.

In following up with the recently-published conference midseason reports, Inside College Hockey figured this lull in the schedule would be a great time to reflect on the first half from an awards perspective, and so we present the first edition of the Hobey Tracker for the 2011-12 campaign. We’ll look at a group of seven standouts (listed alphabetically) who have established themselves as top candidates so far, and mention six more worthy of consideration.

The Hobey Baker Memorial Award is presented to a deserving recipient on the day before the last college hockey game of the season, but that doesn’t mean that college hockey fans, players, and media members don’t think about it all year long. Inside College Hockey’s Hobey Tracker looks at our picks for the top candidates and other players worthy of discussion.

Nick Bjugstad
Minnesota, So., F
20 GP, 16-11–27

Bjugstad was a fast-starter this season with six goals and 11 points in the Gophers’ first seven games. He gets his points in bunches, with 10 multi-point nights in 20 games, but he’s also been held off the scoresheet entirely in five other games.

Jack Connolly
Minnesota Duluth, Sr., F
18 GP, 12-17–29

A finalist for this award last year, Connolly has shown that he’s as dynamic on his own as he was with one of the nation’s top lines for the national champs last year. He had an impressive total of 13 points through 10 games this season, but heated up with 16 points in the Bulldogs’ last eight contests, as UMD continues to roll.

Cal Heeter
Ohio State, Sr., G
11-2-1, 2.11 GAA, .926 sv. pct.

The Buckeyes have been one of the biggest surprises in the first half of the season, and Heeter has played a big role in that success. He’s given up two or fewer goals in 10 of his 15 starts and has seven starts in which he’s allowed a goal or less.

Chris Krieder
Boston College, So., F
18 GP, 12-11–23

Kreider started his season strongly in leading Boston College to a pair of wins at the IceBreaker tournament, and has continued to post steady point totals in a very consistent year. He has points in 16 of BC’s 18 games so far, but has just five multi-point games on the season.

Justin Schultz
Wisconsin, Jr., D
18 GP, 9-19–28

A 2011 Hobey finalist after leading the nation’s defensemen with 18 goals and 47 points, Schultz is on pace to surpass both totals this season. He’s scored at least one point in all but two of the Badgers’ 18 games, and enters the holiday break having scored five goals in his last four games.

Austin Smith
Colgate, Sr., F
17 GP, 18-10–28

Arguably, the front-runner for the Hobey at this point in the season, Smith is meeting some of the high expectations that accompanied him to Colgate for a resurgent Raider team. He’s the nation’s leading scorer, has five short-handed goals on the year, and has at least two points in eight of 17 games played.

T.J. Tynan
Notre Dame, So., F
20 GP, 7-20–27

Tynan has cooled after a blistering start—he notched 14 points in the Irish’s first seven games—but he’s still producing at a good enough clip to rank tied for third in the country in scoring. Though he’s more playmaker than sniper, Notre Dame is 6-1 this season when he scores a goal.

Danny Biega, Harvard; Joe Cannata, Merrimack; Kyle De Laurell, Air Force; Paul Karpowich, Clarkson; Rylan Schwartz, Colorado College; Jason Zucker, Denver

SURPRISE TEAM

Mercyhurst headed into the season with an overhaul of half of its roster. Ten skaters, including top scorers Scott Pitt and Mike Gurtler, and long-time starting goalie Ryan Zapolski graduated. Taylor Holstrom took his Atlantic Hockey rookie of the year award to Penn State, as did Nate Jensen.

The coaches in Atlantic Hockey saw those numbers, plus 12 incoming freshmen on the roster, and decided to pick the Lakers for seventh in the league. A funny thing happened on the way to a rebuilding season: the young Lakers have already arrived.

Four of the top five scorers are rookies. Nardo Nagtzaam leads the Lakers in scoring at the break with five goals and eight assists. Chris Bodo (six goals) and Daniel Bahntge (three) each have 12 points and defenseman Tyler Shiplo has 11 points.

The non-conference portion of the schedule has not been kind – the Lakers are 1-6 – but those games have always been used to get the team ready for league play. An 0-4 start was followed with four wins as part of a 6-1-1 stretch. The Lakers (8-8-2) trail Air Force by one point heading into the holidays.

The Lakers should be able to gain some momentum headed into the second half, playing sets with Alabama Huntsville (1-17-1), Sacred Heart (1-16-1) and American International (3-14-2). A two-game series at Holy Cross (Jan. 20-21) will be the first test before the Lakers have to face title contenders Rochester Institute of Technology (Jan. 27-28) and Air Force (Feb. 17-18) on the road. Mercyhurst also has home-and-homes with Niagara, Robert Morris and Canisius.

SURPRISE INDIVIDUAL

Canisius senior Dan Morrison has made great strides in his final year, knocking nearly an entire goal off his goals against average, from 3.57 last season to 2.67. His save percentage has inched upward, from .904 to .917. Problem is the Golden Griffins have not done much to help, scoring two-or-fewer goals 14 times, including in 10 of the last 11 outings.

WHAT HAPPENED TO .. ?

Army has looked more like a M*A*S*H unit than a hockey team at times. Only nine players have managed to dress for all 15 games thus far. In a Dec. 3 game with Mercyhurst, coach Brian Riley could only dress 17 skaters due to injuries and one suspension. A senior-dominated team, the Black Knights were confident of moving up in the standings; instead, Army is off to a 1-8-6 start, three points behind last season’s pace.

BEST NEW FACES

Air Force freshman Cole Gunner leads the Atlantic Hockey rookie class with 1.2 points per game. Through 15 contests, Gunner has scored four times and helped on 14 goals, by far the league leader in assists among the rookies.

Robert Morris freshman Cody Wydo leads the rookies with seven goals, and has 11 points. He was the North American Hockey League forward of the year.

Army netminder Rob Tadazak, the MVP of the North American League, has managed five starts and one relief outing for the Black Knights. His 2.98 goals against ranks 10th among the league’s goalies and his .925 save percentage ranks third. Junior Ryan Leets, however, has started 10 games and is still No. 1 on the depth chart.

Holy Cross’ Matt Ginn is another promising netminder who has earned considerable playing time in his rookie season. Ginn has started 11 of 15 contests, unseating Thomas Tysowsky. Ginn’s 3.02 goals against ranks 11th in the league.

BIGGEST UPSET

The most-shocking upset in all of college hockey took place on Nov. 22 as Sacred Heart won a wild shootout with No. 8 Yale, 7-6. Playing on neutral ice at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Conn., home of the AHL’s Bridgeport SoundTigers, Sacred Heart staked its 0-11 record against Yale’s 5-1-1 start. The lead changed four times and Chad Filteau’s goal with 4:14 left in regulation snapped a 6-6 tie. The win is the only one Sacred Heart (1-16-1) has managed. Yale, fresh off a regional finals appearance, has stumbled out to a 6-5-1 start.

Atlantic Hockey teams have managed only three wins against ranked foes. Holy Cross knocked off No. 7 Boston University, 5-4, on Oct. 22. Mercyhurst beat No. 19 Cornell, 5-4, on Oct. 29. All told, Atlantic Hockey is 3-11-2 against Top-20 foes, and 11-46-7 in non-conference action.

TOUGHEST ROAD OUT

Niagara’s schedule has been unforgiving, with just five home games at Dwyer Arena out of 16 contests, and contests against three top-20 foes. Still, the young Purple Eagles, with nine freshmen and eight sophomores in the mix, have managed to head into the holidays at .500 (5-5-6) and two games above .500 (4-2-5) in league play. Most impressive is the fact Niagara owns the only winning road mark (4-3-4) in the league. It makes no matter whether Niagara engages in high- or low-scoring contests: The Purple Eagles are 3-4 in one-goal games and have forged six ties. Niagara tied No. 12 Union (2-2) and lost close battles with No. 16 Colgate (7-6 in overtime) and No. 17 Cornell (1-0).

It doesn’t get easier for Niagara just yet – the Purple Eagles head to Minnesota’s Mariucci tournament for New Year’s Eve weekend and resume league play at Connecticut (Jan. 6-7). That’s when the schedule turns favorable with 10 home games out of 14 to close the regular season.

TOUGHEST ROAD IN

Air Force holds a narrow lead and may be supplanted for the holiday break should RIT win at Robert Morris on Saturday. With the league’s Western pod holding down the top five spots and another in eighth place, all of the teams in that half of the league will have a challenging second half with all of the division in-fighting. It will be a bit tougher for Air Force, though. The Falcons must make five trips East in the final eight weekends. Two series against the Eastern pod are set with its top two teams – Holy Cross (Jan. 6-7) and Bentley (Jan. 13-14) – and the other comes at service academy rival Army (Jan. 20-21).
Connecticut may have the easiest road in, having already finished series with Air Force, Mercyhurst and RIT.

MUST-SEE GAMES

RIT has its hands full at Vermont’s Catamount Cup on Dec. 29-30, facing Ferris State (11-6-1) and Lake Superior State (11-7-2) on consecutive nights. Robert Morris hosts Ohio State (13-4-1) at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center on Dec. 30. Air Force closes the calendar year with traditional in-state games at Colorado College (9-5) on Dec. 30 and with Denver (7-6-3) on Dec. 31. In 2012, it’s the USA vs. Canada, military style, when Army resumes its series with Royal Military College on Feb. 4.

BIGGEST QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Will the East rise again?: As of this time, no. The Western pod holds down the top five spots in the standings and eighth place. The six Eastern schools own a 6-26-6 record (.237) against their counterparts in the West.

BIGGEST QUESTION REMAINING

Will Atlantic Hockey get some TV time?: Bob DeGregorio was fairly confident that Atlantic Hockey would get some representation when a new TV deal was struck with the league commissioners – the NBC Sports Net package, however, leaves Atlantic Hockey out in the cold. Despite having a footprint in and around the largest media markets in the country, Atlantic Hockey remains the poor stepchild and the lone Division I league without its championship weekend on national or regional TV.

INCH’s FIRST HALF ALL-ATLANTIC HOCKEY TEAM

G – Shane Madolora, RIT: It’s hard to match the outstanding numbers Madolora posted last season but that’s what the senior has done. His goals against has crept up to 1.99 and his save percentage is also the league best at .932. Madolora didn’t allow an NCAA suspension affect his play.

D – Tim Kirby, Air Force: The senior is tied for the league lead in defenseman scoring with five goals and 12 points. Four of his goals have come on the power play and two have gone for game-winners. His plus/minus is a plus-three.

D – Alex Gerke, Connecticut: The junior also has 12 points, with three of his four goals coming on the power play. He has a game-winner and a short-handed tally. His plus/minus is a plus-two.

F – Kyle DeLaurell, Air Force: The junior has already established a new career high with 11 goals and has added 11 assists for a league-best 22 points. Three of his goals have come on the power play and he has a pair of game-winners. He also sports a plus-six rating.

F – Cole Schneider, Connecticut: Fresh off a 33-point campaign, there is no sophomore shortcoming. All five of his goals have come at even strength and his 17 points ranks third in the league. He’s on a pace for 38 points.

F – Cole Gunner, Air Force: The top freshman scorer in the league, who has four tallies and 18 points, probably has the best name as well. Gunner has a plus-three rating.