Last week in this space, we referred to Alabama-Huntsville as a tough read. A two-game home sweep over Niagara last weekend may have made the writing a bit more legible. Since breaking a first half eight-game losing skid with a road tie at Robert Morris Dec. 4, the Chargers are finding out who they are as a team and the results have been generally positive.

Including the two wins over Niagara last weekend by identical 3-2 counts—the first conference sweep for the Chargers since sweeping Wayne State at the Von Braun Center in February of 2006—UAH picked up three of their season total of seven wins in the month of January.

“We haven’t had many wins and while at home to get two wins is good for our guys,” said Chargers head coach Danton Cole.

The series marked the first games on home ice this season for Alabama-Huntsville since Nov. 13-14 and their first at home since beating — you guessed it — Niagara 50 weeks ago.

“They were different kinds of games; one we were ahead and held on and the other we needed to come from behind. When we play well and win, a lot of different guys are chipping in. We tend to not have that 20-point guy, but a lot bunched in the middle.”

That held true with the Chargers getting goals from six different players. Among that group were sophomores Jamie Easton and Tom Durnie each picking up their first collegiate goals. Cameron Talbot again was in net for both games and was solid with a two-game total of 63 saves while allowing only four goals.

“Talbie was steady like he usually is. We can’t take that for granted, but we do expect him to make the big saves at big times. The save he made on the shorthanded two-on-one in the third period—we needed that at that time.”

The Chargers sparse game schedule — last weekend’s were their only games over a 26-day span — would seem detrimental to getting any team rhythm in place, but Cole actually is in favor of having the next week off before a rematch with Niagara on the road.

“Normally you would want to keep playing for the momentum, but we’re banged up. We could use another week because it’s important to get everybody back feeling good for the stretch.”

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

• Niagara junior goaltender Adam Avramenko, who entered the season as the Purps’ number one goaltender but hadn’t played a minute since the calendar turned, may have regained the confidence of the coaching staff. He came on in relief for the third period Wednesday after Robert Morris scored three times in the second and didn’t allow a single goal in the third or overtime to allow Niagara to tie the game on a late goal by sophomore Sam Goodwin.

• With two games in hand on second place Robert Morris but five points back, Niagara finds themselves with the odd possibility of not being the home team for the CHA semi-finals on their own sheet of ice.

• Robert Morris played spoiler in the final game to be played at the John Glas Fieldhouse with a 5-2 win last Saturday. It marked just the second time the Colonials have beaten the Beavers in Minnesota and came one day after BSU became the first team in the nation to the 18-win mark.

• All four teams in the conference have this weekend off. It is the last bye week for all but Robert Morris, who is also off the last weekend in February.

The trouble with a four-team conference is that teams spend a large portion of their schedule playing non-conference opponents. While that has been the case for the first four months of the season, the final stretch run in College Hockey America history is about to commence. With the exception of two Bemidji State games at Nebraska-Omaha later in February, every game from here on out will be a conference battle.

It begins this weekend with Niagara traveling to Alabama-Huntsville for the first two of what will be six matchups over the next five weeks while Bemidji State hosts Robert Morris in a battle of hot teams. Both Bemidji State and Robert Morris are on a 4-1-1 runs with the Colonials registering a pair of upsets of then top-ranked Miami while the Beavers last weekend swept top-five ranked Minnesota-Duluth in a home-and-home.

Niagara has also found its game offensively since the New Year going 4-3-1 while tallying nine goals in each of their last two weekends including a win and tie last weekend at Quinnipiac last week. Alabama-Huntsville is the toughest read of the group at 2-4-2 over its last eight games, but with last weekend off to regroup and get ready for the Purple Eagles. They only have 10 games remaining in the regular season—six of those against Niagara—and their last four on home ice.

Bemidji State enters the final six weeks of the regular season in commanding position to earn their fifth overall and third consecutive regular season title. Enjoying the largest margin between first and second place of any Division I conference, their magic number is nine points either earned or lost by Niagara (who is currently third, but has two games-in-hand on second place Robert Morris) to earn a tie and 10 points to win the title outright.

The real battle is for second. Just five points separates the final three squads with 19 head-to-head conference games remaining.

There will be no surprises as all four teams are (or will be) more than familiar with each other. Who gets the hot goaltender or power play at the right time will likely determine which team is the answer to the trivia question, “Who was the last regular season champion for College Hockey America?”

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

• Bemidji State sophomore goaltender Dan Bakala is seventh in goals-against average and ninth in the nation in save percentage.

• Beaver forward Darcy Findlay returned to the lineup last weekend. He played both games against Minnesota Duluth but was held without a point.

• Robert Morris sophomore defenseman Josh Jones picked up his first collegiate goal at Colgate Saturday night.

• Niagara senior linemates Chris Moran and Ryan Olidis have combined for 42 points over their last 16 games. Moran has moved up to fifth in the nation in assists with 22 and stands just three behind career all-time team leader Barret Ehgoetz at 95. He will also break into the Purps top-seven all-time in points with four more.

• Alabama-Huntsville has a tie and two losses in first games coming off an off-week, but the two losses were to UMass-Lowell and Vermont.

It’s looking like a frigid weekend for much of college hockey country, but it likely won’t keep people away from the rink … at least not with series like the ones we chose to feature in this week’s INCH Friday Four-cast on tap.

Denver at North Dakota (Friday-Saturday): If nothing else, this weekend’s series in Grand Forks will provide a look at the resiliency of these two teams. The Fighting Sioux—in the midst of grueling seven-week stretch during which they’ve faced or will face Minnesota, Cornell, Denver, St. Cloud State, Minnesota Duluth, and Colorado College—are trying to get back into the top half of the WCHA standings. The Pioneers were clipped by Wisconsin in Madison, getting just one point from the Badgers.

Denver’s healthier and has the edge in goal with Marc Cheverie (pictured), but consecutive high-stakes series at unfriendly venues like Wisconsin and North Dakota can be mentally draining. And you can bet that the Engelstad Arena crowd, which hasn’t seen the Sioux play at home in three weeks, will be at a fever pitch for this series.

St. Lawrence at Cornell (Friday); Union at Yale (Friday): The top four teams in ECAC Hockey line up against each other Friday night and have an opportunity to shake up the top of the league standings. First-place Union leads by a single point over three second-place teams in Yale, St. Lawrence, and Cornell.

Yale hosts Union at Ingalls Rink. These teams tied in the first meeting of the year back in early November in Schenectady, but the Bulldogs have a chance to hold serve in their barn this weekend. Yale is just 2-2-0 in its last four league games and Union suffered its first two conference defeats last weekend on home ice.

Cornell and St. Lawrence played to a 1-1 tie two weeks ago and will meet again at raucous Lynah Rink. The Saints have surged into second place and are among the title contenders after going 4-0-2 in their last six conference games. The Big Red are also 4-0-2 in their last six ECAC Hockey games and earned a difficult split at home last weekend against North Dakota.

Michigan vs. Michigan State (Friday at East Lansing, Saturday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit): Interesting that word of a Cold War redux in Ann Arbor in December broke Thursday; while the granddaddy of outdoor hockey games was all about spectacle and rivalry, the Spartans and Wolverines head into this weekend’s games focused inward.

Michigan State is on track to earn a CCHA first-round playoff, but the Spartans are just 1-2-2 in their last five games. Defense has become a bit of an issue; the Spartans have allowed 18 goals in their last five matches after giving up a total of 10 goals in seven games from Dec. 4-Jan. 8. Michigan, meanwhile, is in seventh place in the conference standings but just four points out of fourth place and the final opening-round bye. The Wolverines, who are 4-1-1 this month with the lone loss coming last weekend at Ferris State, are searching for offensive consistency.

BEANPOT SEMIFINALS, Harvard vs. Boston College, 5 p.m.; Northeastern vs. Boston University, 8 p.m. (Monday): The first Monday in February means the return of college hockey to Boston’s downtown arena. This year’s semifinal games match last year’s second day schedule when BC and Harvard played in the third-place tilt and BU defeated Northeastern in the tournament final—BU’s 29th Beanpot title.

This season hasn’t gone according to plan for the defending national champion Terriers, currently in sixth place in Hockey East, can use what has been unofficially dubbed the “Terrier Invitational” as a second-half spark plug. BC has won just twice in seven games since the calendar turned to 2010 and has lost twice to BU in that span. Harvard comes into the Beanpot as the hottest team among the four, with a 3-0-1 record in their last four, including wins over nationally-ranked Yale and Union. Northeastern is the only team of the four Beanpot participants that has a tournament title to its credit this year. The Huskies started 2010 by capturing the Ledyard Bank Classic at Dartmouth.

Also: Huge weekend in the WCHA—in addition to Denver at North Dakota, St. Cloud State travels to Colorado College and Wisconsin is at Minnesota Duluth. … Robert Morris travels to Bemidji State in a College Hockey America showdown featuring teams responsible for 75 percent of Miami’s losses this season. … Ferris State scored 14 goals in two games against Ohio State in Big Rapids in November. The two teams meet again this weekend in Columbus. … Scott Darling should be back in goal this weekend for Maine as the Black Bears take on Vermont in a key Hockey East series.

TV Schedule | INCH Pick ‘Em

Travis Vermeulen has set career-highs for goals and points as a senior.

TRAVIS VERMEULEN
St. Lawrence
Sr. | F | Centerville, Minn.

His Statistics: 2 GP, 2-4-6, GWG, +3 rating

His Impact: Vermeulen recorded a point on six of St. Lawrence’s nine goals over the weekend and helped lead the Saints into a three-way tie for second place in ECAC Hockey. He had two assists in the Saints’ 5-2 win over Brown on Friday and then came back with two goals and two assists in an important 4-2 win over Yale on Saturday at Appleton Arena.

Vermeulen’s huge night against defending league-champion Yale included a strong start in the first period. He assisted SLU’s opener and then scored less than three minutes later as the Saints held a 2-0 lead. Yale rallied back to tie it in the first minute of the third period, but Vermeulen scored the eventual game-winning goal at 11:00 of the period. He then assisted on an insurance tally with 1:52 remaining.

The senior forward leads St. Lawrence in scoring with 11 goals and 24 points but hasn’t been counted on for offensive production throughout his collegiate career. He started the year with just 42 career points. That’s not to discount his contributions over the last three and a half seasons. Saints coach Joe Marsh told the Watertown Daily Times, “He’s the best defensive forward I’ve ever coached. He brings it every single night.”

His Runners Up: Michael Davies, Wisconsin; Brian Foster, New Hampshire; Dave Jarman, Sacred Heart; Ian Lowe, Bemidji State; Brandon Richardson, Nebraska-Omaha

The INCH Player of the Week is brought to you by The INCH Shop.

This weekend’s Denver-Wisconsin series lived up to its advance billing; it was a well-played, intense, highly entertaining affair between two legitimate national championship contenders in a playoff atmosphere. If the two games at the Kohl Center are an indicator, put our names on the list of those who’d like to see a rematch in March or April.

Generally speaking, last weekend wasn’t a great one for teams in the INCH Power Rankings. Of the 20 teams currently ranked, only St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, New Hampshire, UMass Lowell and newcomer St. Lawrence managed two wins. Five ranked teams, meanwhile, were winless-Boston College, Minnesota Duluth, and Union were swept outright, while Denver and Lake Superior State salvaged only ties against Wisconsin and Notre Dame, respectively.

“This guy has never had any coaching (at the University of Michigan). … Michigan is the worst. For hockey people, if you’ve got a choice between a kid-all things being equal-one’s going to Michigan and one’s going to Boston University, you all want your player (going to Boston University). … Red (Berenson) doesn’t coach. It’s ‘do what you want.’”

Asked about the maturation of defenseman Jack Johnson, Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi blasted Johnson, Berenson, and the Michigan program during a wide-ranging Q&A with Hockeytalk.biz blogger Gann Matsuda. The comments set the hockey world abuzz, and compelled Johnson to defend Berenson and the Michigan program. When asked about the comments a few days after they became public, Lombardi blamed Matsuda for taking his quotes out of context.

Maybe Lombardi is right-there exists anecdotal evidence that a fair share of high-profile ex-Wolverines (Andrew Cogliano, Al Montoya, and Jeff Tambellini, for example) haven’t panned out, but the flip side is that a number of lesser-heralded Michigan prospects have far exceeded expectations (think Matt Hunwick, David Moss, and Jed Ortmayer)-and he’s entitled to his opinion. But to make such statements and claiming his words were taken out of context is bush league.

An oddity in this week’s voter-driven rankings regarding Cornell and North Dakota, who split a series at Lynah Rink last weekend. In the USCHO.com poll, both the Fighting Sioux and Big Red edged up one spot to fourth and eighth, respectively. In the USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today poll, however-a poll in which INCH casts a ballot weekly-the Fighting Sioux moved up one spot to fourth while the Big Red fell one rung from seventh to eighth. It’s nothing to get mad about (unless you’re a Cornell fan, perhaps) but it’s fascinating how two different groups of voters interpret the same results.

@SchlossmanGF - In Lynah Rink. It’s freezing in here.

@undsid - In Lynah Rink. It’s freezing in here. @SchlossmanGF: Stop whining!

@SchlossmanGF - @INCH_Gladdy Strange that two guys from North Dakota are complaining about the cold?

The Tweets of the Week share some levity from Grand Forks Herald beat writer Brad Schlossman and North Dakota media relations director Jayson Hajdu. Here are a couple of guys who wake up to sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures throughout the winter and got the chills in a 40-50 degree hockey rink.

The bigger picture is that one of the ideas for this week’s Stick Salute was to raise the branches to North Dakota’s willingness to travel east and set up a very good series between two very good teams. We understand that several high-profile Western teams have big rinks and big financial responsibilities to their athletic departments. That being said, North Dakota has made a commitment to get on the plane and play non-league games against prominent Eastern-based teams. Last year, it was the IceBreaker Tournament at BU with another game against UMass. This year, a trip to Cornell; and next year the Sioux embark on a two-game series at Maine.

With just one conference victory over their first five games this season and five wins overall, Niagara wasn’t thinking of milestones heading into their weekend series with nationally ranked Bemidji State. But the Purple Eagles torched the Beavers, who entered the game with the second-best defense in country, for six goals, two by freshman Marc Zanette, in a 6-4 win at Dwyer Arena.

In that game, Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder registered his 150th career victory and senior forward Chris Moran moved into sole possession of second place on the school’s all-time assist chart with his 90th and 91st—first among active players and just four from tying Barret Ehgoetz for first on the list. All this happened on the same night Niagara protected its status as the only team in CHA history to finish the season without a blemish on its conference record. BSU recovered Saturday, posting a 4-3 victory to salvage a split.

Go go, Zanette: Niagara's Marc Zanette had a pair of goals in the Purps' 6-4 win over visiting Bemidji State last weekend.

Undoubtedly, though, the most important accomplishment was Niagara proving it could compete with the best in the conference; the Purple Eagles were outscored 11-4 in two games against the Beavers in Bemidji earlier this season.

“They clearly outplayed us in the first period—they came in and outworked us and we can’t have that,” said Burkholder, whose team trailed 2-0 lead after one period. “We called a couple of guys out, they responded; we outshot them 16-5, tilted the ice on them, and carried that into the third. Our transition game in the second turned things around for us.”

“The way we played in the second and third was the first time we’ve played that way all year,” said Zanette. “We fed off each one line after another and each line went out and built confidence. I think this was a turning point for us after the first period.”

“Sometimes you forget what it takes,” said Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore after game one. “Things have gone well for us this year, so hopefully this is a good little reminder.”

In game two, the Beavers twice held two-goal leads and survived a late Niagara power play with five minutes left and an extra attacker late to protect their one-goal win.

Freshman Brance Orban, seeing his first game action since mid-October—he didn’t know he would be in the lineup until the team’s Saturday morning skate—paced the Beaver attack by scoring twice and adding an assist for his first collegiate points.

“It’s been a long time coming but I’m just happy to contribute,” said Orban. “The first one Reado (Matt Read) made a short six-foot pass in the neutral zone and I was looking to give him the puck on the two-on-one because you want to get the puck in the hands of one of the best players in the country. But the d-man slid over to him, so I had no choice to shoot and it went in.”

The Purps head to Quinnipiac this weekend; Bemidji State has a home-and-home series with Minnesota Duluth.

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG 

· Robert Morris, which moved into sole possession of second place in the conference with a weekend sweep over Alabama-Huntsville, got a four-point weekend from converted defenseman Andrew Blazek. The freshman, who has just nine games under his belt, registered his first collegiate points with a pair of assists in game one and followed that with his first goal and another assist in game two.

· Alabama-Huntsville has just two games (the Chargers host Niagara next weekend) over a 26-day period spanning Jan. 17 to Feb. 11.

· UAH leading scorer Cody Campbell has eight points over eight conference games but only five points in 15 non-conference tilts.

· Niagara was already without the services of freshman defenseman Dan Weiss, who injured a shoulder in practice the week prior to the Bemidij State series and will be out for a total of 2-4 weeks. Then they lost senior forward Egor Mironov early in the first game of the BSU series with a shoulder injury. Slings are in short supply at Dwyer Arena with senior defenseman Ryan Annesley also out for most of the season with wing joint trouble.

· Bemidji State freshman forward Jordan George, the team’s second-leading scorer, was scratched for game two against Niagara. It marked his first scratch of the season.

“He didn’t have a great game last night and sometimes it’s healthy to watch from up top. He’s probably the best freshman in the league, but I thought it was a good time,” said Serratore. The Beavers expect to also get injured forward Darcy Findlay back this weekend.

· Bemidji State is now 10-1 this season when junior Matt Read scores a goal and 27-6-1 since his freshman year.

When Niagara from newly-formed College Hockey America beat regional number one seed New Hampshire in the 2000 NCAA Tournament after gaining an at-large bid, some observers called it a one-in-a-hundred occurrence.

Fast forward to 2006-07, when Robert Morris pulled out a 3-2 win against traditional powerhouse Boston University in Alaska to open the season.

While these upsets were few and far between, the teams in College Hockey America seemed to turn the credibility corner in spring 2009 when upstart Bemidji State beat Notre Dame and Cornell in the NCAA Regional round to advance all the way to the Frozen Four.

And now, in 2009-10, it seems CHA teams upsetting the hockey powerhouses has become a bit ho-hum. It began with Alabama-Huntsville opening the season with a 3-2 victory at top-five ranked Notre Dame. Then followed another 3-2 win over then number one Miami Thanksgiving weekend at the hands of Bemidji State.

But last weekend provided yet another milestone in the leveling of the Division I hockey world.

Robert Morris not only won a pair of games against top-ranked Miami, but did so while limiting the RedHawks to just a single power-play goal in each game.

“Anytime you beat the number one team in the country it’s a big deal,” Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley said. “Some CHA teams have done it before once, but what happened (Saturday) is validation.”

Brooks Ostergard

“We came into the game having allowed at least two goals in every game, but we held them to one goal per game on consecutive nights.”

It also should be noted that the Colonials entered the weekend with a grand total of three wins.

“We got great goaltending, we executed, blocked shots, killed penalties and got a few bounces. Friday night (Brooks) Ostergard played well especially early making some key saves. Then Saturday, we weathered the storm early and they hit a few posts.”

Also key for the Colonials was the return to the lineup of senior captain Dave Cowan on defense after a five-week layoff due to thumb surgery. And the experiment of moving freshman forward Andrew Blazek back to defense for the last five games has proven a successful one.

“You still have the elite programs, but the bottom is closer to the top than it ever has been,” Schooley said about the balance in Division I hockey.

“Bemidji State last year validated the quality of the programs in CHA and what Alabama-Huntsville did earlier this year and Niagara playing Michigan close and taking down Colgate among other teams is further proof. Our records don’t always reflect it, but we have some quality programs.”

CHA teams have eight more non-conference games this season to provide any further validation needed.

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

• For just the second time this season, all four CHA teams will be playing each other this weekend. Bemidji State travels to Niagara having not allowed a goal over their last 137:26 of play while Alabama-Huntsville makes their second trip of the season to Moon Township to battle the Colonials. The Chargers earned three of four points during the first trip in early December.

• Since opening the season 0-8-2, Niagara has quietly gone 5-4-0 while averaging over three goals scored per game. Sophomore Chris Noonan has started the last six games in goal.

• Alabama-Huntsville has also found the win column with a 2-2-2 record in their last six. Freshman Keenan Desmet scored his first collegiate goal with 29 seconds remaining in regulation to help the Chargers earn a 3-3 tie at Clarkson last weekend.

Ostergard stole the show against Miami.

BROOKS OSTERGARD
Robert Morris
So. | G | Chagrin Falls, Ohio

His Statistics: 2 GP, 2-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .975 save pct.

His Impact: The sophomore goalie for Robert Morris was at his best this weekend in helping the Colonials to a pair of victories over previously top-ranked Miami. In Friday’s game at Mellon Arena, home of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, Ostergard made 39 saves and allowed just a power-play goal in a 3-1 win.

Sunday in Oxford, Ohio, Ostergard stopped 38 Miami shots and again was only beaten by a power-play goal. He made 14 saves in the third period when the Colonials were protecting their 2-1 lead, which held up as the final margin.

Ostergard was named First Star of the game after both wins. For the season he has a 4-9-21 record in 17 games with a .907 save percentage and 3.43 goals-against average.

His Runners-Up: Bobby Butler, New Hampshire; Brandon Coccimiglio, Mercyhurst; Mike Connolly, Minnesota Duluth; Mike Embach, Ferris State; Allan York, Rensselaer

There were a lot of impressive visuals from Fenway Park over the last two weeks when a hockey rink was built on the famous baseball ground and hosted a number of hockey events. When Boston University and Boston College took the ice on Friday night, our initial reaction was being overwhelmingly impressed by the special sweaters worn by the BU Terriers.

The font on front resembled that worn by the Boston Red Sox on their home jerseys, and the hanging skates shoulder-patch tribute to the Red Sox’ alternate logo was a particular fitting touch. The design was almost entirely the idea of head coach Jack Parker, as the Terriers used to wear warm-up jackets with a similar font in the late-1980s and early-1990s. He and equipment manager Mike DiMella worked with some of the team’s equipment providers to make the vision a reality. And if you’re hoping to get your hands on one … too bad. The idea behind the special design was so that the team members would always have something to hold on to and remember the experience.

We understand that people tend to think their own little corner of the world is the best there is, but sometimes that provincialism can be a bit misguided. Take Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo, for example, who, in the afterglow of the NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park earlier this month, was prepared to lobby the league to have the event in Beantown every year. The notion was quickly shot down by NHL brass.

Fenway is one-of-a-kind setting and the Winter Classic certainly benefited from the aura surrounding the venerable ballpark, but suggesting the event should be permanently housed in Boston is a disservice to the cities that have hosted the Winter Classic in the past as well as those poised to host it in the future.

“I was a little smarter than he was. I gave my gold to my mom.”

Wisconsin sophomore defenseman Jake Gardiner, a member of the U.S. team that won first place at last week’s IIHF World Junior Championship, wisely sent his hardware home to suburban Minneapolis with his family following the tournament’s conclusion.

The U.S. team captain and Gardiner’s Badger teammate, forward Derek Stepan, planned on toting his medal back to Madison. The bauble went AWOL, however, when the airline lost his luggage. Fortunately, the bag and the medal showed up a couple days later unharmed.

Miami must have fostered a heaping helping of goodwill with poll voters somewhere, because the RedHawks managed to drop just one spot to second place in both the USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today and USCHO.com polls despite managing a total of two goals in a pair of losses to Robert Morris, a team that entered the weekend series in the throes of a nine-game winless streak and hadn’t won consecutive games all season.

That the RedHawks only managed to score twice in 120 minutes against the Colonials is even more troubling (or impressive, depending on your perspective) given the fact that RMU ranks 54th among the 58 Division I teams in scoring defense, allowing an average of 3.75 goals per game, and ranks 52nd in penalty killing success rate.

@evalois What we learned yesterday? Defense, not defence, wins games. #wjc

http://twitter.com/evalois/status/7445063437

Similarities outnumber differences between Canada and the United States, but last Tuesday they seemed a world away, something a Toronto-based newspaper editor captured with this tweet. The World Junior Championship gold medal game was the most watched show in the history of TSN, Canada’s ESPN, while ESPN itself could barely mention it. Don Cherry later dismissed the result as USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program manufacturing a triumph over Canada’s natural superiority in the sport.

Whatever the rest of the United States’ interest was, the college hockey world watched with great interest as the Americans - including 11 current college players - upset the five-time defending champions. Team USA’s win was a source of great pride - and bragging rights throughout campus locker rooms populated by both American and Canadian players.

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DU's Rhett Rakhshani posted identical 2-1—3 scoring lines in wins against Nebraska-Omaha and Boston College.

RHETT RAKHSHANI
Denver
Sr. | F | Huntington Beach, Calif.

His Impact: Rakhshani was the catalyst as Denver captured its own holiday tournament with wins over Nebraska-Omaha and Boston College. Denver opened the tournament with a 7-0 win over UNO and Rakhshani posted two goals, an assist and was a plus-4.

Denver trailed Boston College 2-0 after two periods, but Rakhshani took over in the third period. He scored just 30 seconds into the period to cut the Pioneer deficit in half. Later in the period, he scored the game-tying goal with 5:16 remaining and then set up Joe Colborne’s game winner with 3:15 left on the clock.

His Runners-Up: Dan Bakala, Bemidji State; Brett Perlini, Michigan State; Kyle Rank, Bentley; Chris Rawlings, Northeastern; Jason Walters, Union

Among the longest shots to win any of the holiday tournaments, the Bentley Falcons left Storrs, Conn., with the trophy following 4-1 wins over host UConn and nationally-ranked Massachusetts in the UConn Hockey Classic. Goalie Kyle Rank was named tournament MVP after stopping 65 of 67 shots he faced in the two games, and made 42 saves in the win over UMass.

We panned Atlantic Hockey’s non-league performance in earlier editions of the First Shift, and will take this opportunity to salute Bentley’s big win. The Falcons are 6-4-2 in Atlantic Hockey, currently in fifth place, and have played fewer games than three of the teams ahead of them in the standings.

Regular readers of this site know that we’re not the greatest fans of post-game shootouts. Unfortunately, at many holiday tournaments across the country, the shootout is used to determine which teams advance and in some cases which teams win the tournament (Wisconsin). Our personal opinions aside, the holiday tournament season is probably the best time to use this format. With teams playing back-to-back nights and more than one game at each venue, there are time concerns and burdens on the players. Still, we applaud the Great Lakes Invitational and Beanpot for putting 20 minutes on the overtime clock.

We can accept that the CCHA uses the format for its league games, but why was there a shootout after Saturday’s 0-0 tie between Bemidji State and Western Michigan? When the host Broncos prevailed, fans left the rink with the perception that the Broncos won the game. Not bad for a team that failed to score an actual goal all weekend.

“Things just kind of turned for the worst and it just became a big distraction this year for us. And I think that’s one reason we were so up and down this year, because some of the things that he said to his players and some of the things that were done. People just didn’t cope with that.”

Texas Tech offensive lineman Brandon Carter made those remarks to ESPNDallas.com reporter Jeff Kaplan following the Red Raiders’ Alamo Bowl win over Michigan State last weekend. The situation surrounding the dismissal of Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach is bizarre, but the entire episode drives home an important lesson—that even though journalists and fans alike think they can dissect the problems plaguing Team X or get to the bottom of why Player Y isn’t performing, the truth is that we really don’t know.

Sure, we can speculate that a specific team’s issues stem from a lack of effort, an absence of finishers on offense, or zero attention to detail. And we might be right. Then again, maybe the guys hate each other, maybe they’ve tuned the coaching staff out, or, in the case of Texas Tech, the coach is a jerk.

On the strength of a pair of convincing wins over Michigan Tech and Rensselaer at the Great Lakes Invitational, Michigan State leapt past Bemidji State in this week’s INCH Power Rankings and both voter-driven polls. The Beavers didn’t help their cause with a scoreless tie at CCHA bottom-feeder Western Michigan, but the decision to flip the Spartans ahead of BSU wasn’t as easy as you might think.

@twolinepass America is a helluva country!

A simple statement from Ryan Lambert of Puck Daddy that captured a lot of the pride and emotion evident on Twitter Sunday night after the United States defeated Sweden in the semifinals of the World Junior Championship.

SURPRISE TEAM

Raise your hand if you picked any College Hockey America team to be ranked in the top five in the nation at any point of this season. Top 10? Top 15?

After becoming the poster child for small-market hockey everywhere last season, Bemidji State has continued that momentum through most of the first half of the season with an 11-1-1 start. The offense has cooled of late, scoring more than three goals just once in their last six games since Thanksgiving, but a first-ever win against Minnesota and beating then top-ranked Miami in Grand Forks, N.D., highlighted the first half.

All eyes will be on the Beavers as they open the 2010 portion of the schedule with road series at Western Michigan and Niagara after a two-game stumble against Minnesota State on home ice.

SURPRISE INDIVIDUALS

Part of the Beavers’ success this season can be attributed to the offensive maturation of senior Chris McKelvie and junior Ian Lowe from fourth liners at last year’s Frozen Four into legitimate threats.

Robert Morris forward Nathan Longpre, currently tied for third in the league scoring race, earned a spot on the first half All-CHA team.

Coaches often talk of players needing to emerge to fill vacant roles left on a team due to player departures, but it doesn’t happen nearly as often as they would like.

McKelvie, who had 10 goals and five assists combined over his first three campaigns, already has six goals and six assists this season. Lowe, meanwhile, had two-year totals of four goals; he already has seven in 18 games this season.

Also worthy of mention in this category is Robert Morris junior Chris Kushneriuk, who is second on the Colonials with seven goals and 10 assists after tallying a total of 12 goals and 11 helpers in one season at Wayne State and one at RMU.

WHAT HAPPENED TO …

Niagara watched a 4-1 third-period lead evaporate in its season opener and took almost five weeks to recover. There were four consecutive one-goal losses to start an eight-game road losing streak, but the Purple Eagles still haven’t solved their goaltending questions.

A 3-2-1 run over their last six games has sparked some hope. But in the “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger” vein, the Purps begin 2010 with North Dakota and either Colgate or Notre Dame at the Shillelagh Tournament in suburban Chicago and series against St. Lawrence, Bemidji State, and Quinnipiac. That’s three teams in the top 10 of the most recent INCH Power Rankings plus one on the bubble. Ouch.

Come March, though, the final CHA playoffs will be on Niagara’s home ice, so as is heard throughout New York State in an ad campaign—hey, you never know …

BEST NEW FACES

As you might expect, Bemidji State’s start can be attributed to more than just veterans gaining experience in the NCAA playoffs last season.

Goaltender Dan Bakala (who qualifies as a new face since he didn’t play a minute outside of three exhibitions last season) and freshman Jordan George have been integral to their 8-0 conference start and then some. Bakala has played in all but five of BSU’s games to date and he ranks among the top ten nationally in goals against average and save percentage. George, meanwhile, was second in points and third in points per game among all Division I freshmen.

BIGGEST UPSET

A lot has changed on the college hockey landscape since early October. And even though Bemidji State did beat No. 1 Miami about a month ago, this prize must go to Alabama-Huntsville for its season-opening upset of then-No. 1 Notre Dame.

The Chargers were coming off a five-win season and had won a total of 11 games over the last two years. In front of a sold-out Joyce Center in South Bend, UAH got a power play goal from Cody Campbell with just five seconds remaining in regulation to pull out the unexpected victory.

TOUGHEST ROAD OUT

No coach can stomach an eight-game losing streak, but consider Niagara’s schedule during its skid of that length earlier this season. A six-game road swing through Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Michigan, Cornell, Colgate, and UMass plus a home ice against the Minutemen made up the first seven losses.

That’s three teams currently appearing in the INCH Power Rankings or on the bubble, plus another who was ranked when the contest took place. Add a two-game sweep earlier this month Bemidji State and it’s not hard to fathom a 10-loss first half. The good news is that five the losses were one-goal defeats, including two in OT. One step away, it seems …

TOUGHEST ROAD IN

Robert Morris will have its work cut out for it down the stretch, with four of its last nine games against first-place Bemidji State and six of their final nine on the road.

Prior to that stretch, the Colonials face INCH Power Rankings bubble team Lake Superior State and Colgate plus top-ranked Miami in January.

MUST-SEE GAMES

The first weekend of conference play is Jan. 15-16, and the pack fighting for second place behind Bemidji State may begin separate. Bemidji State makes its final regular-season trip to Niagara, while Alabama-Huntsville returns to Moon Township to face Robert Morris—the Chargers took three of four points from the Colonials there earlier this month.

BIGGEST QUESTION ANSWERED

Will the return of Niagara defenseman Ryan Annesley to the lineup stabilize Niagara’s backline? The answer, it turns out, is a resounding yes.

The senior missed the first eight games of the season with a shoulder injury and the Purps went 0-7-1. Annesley returned Nov. 13; Niagara went 3-3-1 with two of the losses at Bemidji State.

The bad news is that Annesley left the ice in the second period of their game against RIT last weekend and did not return.

BIGGEST QUESTION REMAINING

Was Bemidji State getting outscored 8-3 in a pair of home losses to Minnesota State to finish the first half of the season the sign of a team that played over its collective head during the first half, the distractions of finals week getting in the way, or simply fatigue? Trips to Western Michigan and Niagara to begin January may provide a clue.

INCH’s FIRST HALF ALL-CHA TEAM

F-Matt Read, Bemidji State: Has shown he can compete on any stage against any level opponent. He isn’t one to just shoot though he leads in goals; he’s just one off the team lead in assists as well.

F-Nathan Longpre, Robert Morris: The extra gear he seems to find to squeeze through the defense helps. He has performed as expected even with the departure of two-year linemate Chris Margott.

F-Chris Moran, Niagara: He started slow, but has resumed his usual pace with 15 points over the last nine games. May needs to look for his shot first more often instead of the pass.

D-Brad Hunt, Bemidji State: Lethal from the point with 10 of his 17 points coming with the man advantage. All the more impressive when you realize he’s paired with a freshman most nights.

D-Denny Urban, Robert Morris: Not afraid to jump in offensively, but sometimes does so too much. With all of the injuries on the RMU backline, he’s more icetime in all situations. That usually equals tired legs late in a game.

G-Dan Bakala, Bemidji State: Has gone from an unknown to a rock replacing the departed Matt Dalton. Gets a lot of help from a solid defensive corps, but a goals against average below 2.00 is much more than was expected.

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)?