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