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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With Bemidji State out to a perfect 8-0-0 conference record while allowing all of 11 goals against in CHA play, it seems the race is on for second place in College Hockey America though the calendar only turned to December a little more than a week ago.

Going into the weekend, Robert Morris sits in second place though just one point ahead of Niagara and Alabama-Huntsville who have two and one game-in-hand respectively.

The Chargers made their presence as a legitimate contender for that runner-up spot by taking three of four points at Robert Morris last weekend.

Sophomore forward Cody Campbell figured in on five of the Chargers six goals and goaltender Cameron Talbot made a combined 85 saves over two games to help UAH stop an eight game losing streak.

“Our guys played a lot better with more jump and Talby (Talbot) kept us in the game yesterday and was better tonight,” said head coach Danton Cole after game two. “Our guys had more jump, we won some battles and offensively there were some things going on that weren’t last night.”

One night prior, the Chargers watched a 2-0 first period lead evaporate and settled for a 2-2 tie, though it marked their first point earned in six weeks.

“Overall I thought we were average (on Friday),” said Cole. “The faceoffs were 41-22 against and I thought they won many of the battles in the corner. We need more energy, better legs and to be better offensively.”

Robert Morris forward Chris Kushneriuk was listed as 24-8 in the faceoff circle in the 2-2 tie and 42-23 for the weekend while taking 47 percent of the draws for the Colonials.

Freshman Zach Hervato scored his first collegiate goal to stake the Colonials to a 1-0 second period lead in the second game, but was trumped by fellow freshman Sebastian Geoffrion of the Chargers, who also lit the lamp for his first tally five minutes later. Geoffrion is the grandson of NHL Hall of Famer Bernie Geoffrion.

Robert Morris has scored five total goals over their last four games and will try to get healthy offensively when they travel to Niagara (Friday) and Canisius (Tuesday) for their final two games prior to the break.

“We’ve been giving up (an average of) 48 shots a game lately, and they only had 23—that’s a period for us lately let alone a game,” said Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley after game one. “Good game by Cameron Talbot.”

The Chargers managed just 17 shots on goal during their 4-2 win Saturday.

Alabama-Huntsville is off until heading to Vermont for the Catamount Cup Jan. 2-3. They battle the host team in the first round and Mercyhurst or Minnesota-Duluth in the second round.

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

· Robert Morris senior defenseman Dave Cowan had surgery on his thumb last Friday and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. That would bring him back for the Lake Superior State home series Jan. 2-3 or the home-and-home with Miami the next with the first of those two games the Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase at Mellon Arena. With fellow defenseman Ben Finney also leaving the team, the Colonials are trying to move local product Andrew Blazek back to defense for depth.

· The eight goals Niagara allowed to Bemidji State in the opening game of their series last weekend was the most scored on the Purps since Oct. 20, 2006 when Nebraska-Omaha tallied 10. The Beavers also scored eight against Niagara in December 2005.

· Maybe a hockey first Saturday when a Bemidji State student played the national anthem on a violin.

· As if they need the help, Bemidji State will get senior defenseman Chris Peluso back in the lineup this weekend when they host Minnesota State for a pair. He missed the last six games after breaking a finger.

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

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

Mike Clemente

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compare the two quotes below.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bemidji State shirts sold out first at the Verizon Center clothing stands at the 2009 Frozen Four in Washington, D.C. They were the feel-good story of college hockey; the upstart team from the soon-to-be-defunct conference.

Miami ended that run and, after losing their starting goaltender and 38 percent of their goal scoring, no one expected much this season from the Beavers.

An eight-game unbeaten string to begin the season - including a first-ever 6-2 win at Minnesota - raised a few eyebrows, but the Golden Gophers are having an off year. The true test to see if the Beavers’ season was all smoke-and-mirrors would be against the top team in the country; a RedHawks team that handed the Beavers a 4-1 loss in D.C. in April.

So now what?

Chris McKelvie scored the game-winner in the final four minutes of regulation after assisting on the second goal to send the Beavers to victory lane.

“It was all set by Matt Read - whenever he has the puck, I just go to the net,” said McKelvie on the KKBJ postgame show. “Last April we were the Frozen Four Cinderella story so I think we were a bit nervous. But we were relaxed today and knew we could play with these guys.”

“There were times where the ice felt tilted,” said head coach Tom Serratore also on KKBJ. “But we played good defense and got good goaltending. It was a monumental win for our program, but just like a million other coaches say, we’re just taking it one day at a time.”

As might be expected, the Beavers stumbled against Ohio State the next night of the two-game Subway Holiday Classic in Grand Forks, N.D., with a 2-1 overtime loss. It marked their fourth overtime in 14 contests this season.

This weekend it’s another high-octane test as Bemidji State gets back to conference play when they host a rival Niagara team which has righted its ship, going unbeaten in their last three while outscoring opponents 12-4 after a tie and an eight-game losing skid to begin the season.

The two teams have spilt five of their last six regular season series at the Glas—the other ended in a pair of ties.

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

· Niagara goaltender Adam Avramenko stopped 38 shots in picking up his second career shutout, 5-0, at Robert Morris last Wednesday. His only other whitewash came in the same Island Sports Center building last season.

· When Alabama-Huntsville travels to Robert Morris for a pair this weekend, it will mark the Chargers’ only game action in a 41-day period spanning November 22-January 1.

· Bemidji State has the stingiest defense in the nation allowing 1.71 goals per game.

· Robert Morris is allowing an average of 48 shots on goal during their current three-game losing streak. The peak was 55 to Niagara in the last contest.

· Alabama-Huntsville defenseman Ryan Burkholder is the current CHA “Nathan Schwartzbauer Award” leader. The junior is still looking for his first collegiate goal 60 games into his career. Schwartzbauer played 126 career contests for Bemidji State without a single tally.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TANNER HOUSE
Maine
Jr. | F | Cochrane, Alberta

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bemidji State swept Alabama-Huntsville last week in convincing fashion by a combined 12-4 count to start their conference schedule with a perfect 4-0-0 record.

In the first meeting between the two teams Halloween weekend, both games went to overtime before being decided in the Beavers favor. This time, in the Chargers final trip to the John S. Glas Fieldhouse, the games were decided much earlier.

With the sweep, the Beavers have won 15 of their last 16 home games against the Chargers dating back to February 2005.

Both BSU goaltenders continue to impress with Dan Bakala and Mathieu Dugas combining for a 1.64 goals against average. Bemidji State is one of just six teams in the nation allowing fewer than two goals per game.

And they have been scoring goals (4.08 per game) despite a power play that ranks among the bottom half in Division I at just 17.7 percent.

This weekend, yet another test for the Beavers as they battle top-ranked Miami Friday in a rematch of the 2009 Frozen Four semifinal, which the RedHawks won 4-1. They will also play Ohio State on Saturday—all part of the Subway Holiday Classic held in Grand Forks hosted by North Dakota.

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

• Former CHA member Wayne State will induct forward Dustin Kingston into their Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2010 on Feb. 20. Kingston holds the school record for points in a season (41 in 2002-03), holds the second and both third-place school records for goals in a season with 18 and 17 respectively, is first with 65 career goals and second all-time in career points with 122. He also holds team marks for short-handed and game-winning goals.

• Bemidji State has lured a Michigan native in forward Garrett Ladd of the North American Hockey League’s Marquette Rangers to their list of 2010 recruits. “I am excited about the chance the coaching staff at Bemidji is giving me,” said Ladd to the Bemidji Pioneer after making his decision. “Like all of us who play juniors, it has been a lifelong dream of mine and my family to play D-I hockey and I am going to make the most of this great opportunity.” Ladd leads the Rangers in scoring this season with 22 points on eight goals and 14 assists in 18 games. Ladd is also ranked in the top 20 in overall scoring among all 19 NAHL teams through this week of action. For his career in Marquette, Ladd has 34 goals and 65 assists for a total of 99 points in just over two full seasons.

• The Niagara Gazette last week ran a two-part series with Purple Eagles Athletics Director Ed McLaughlin. One question asked was:

GAZZETTE: Some people feel like this (the move to Atlantic Hockey next season) is a definitive move. Is that so? Or do you have to keep your options open?

ED: I’d say we went into this knowing this is a place we can be for the next five to 10 years. And we’re not in the business of shopping ourselves around at this point. We’re in the place we need to be. If the landscape changes, all bets are off.

• Niagara extended its unbeaten streak in games at Robert Morris to five with a 5-0 win Wednesday. The Purple Eagles are 2-0-3 in their last handful of games in Moon Township, Pa.

• Robert Morris forward Furman South did not tally a single point in 26 games last season as a freshman. Over the first 12 games this season, he had one goal and five assists.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’ve talked to you a lot of times here when I wasn’t in a good mood, so I’ll talk to you now,” said Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley upon entering the pressroom at Dwyer Arena in Niagara after his team rode Chris Kushneriuk’s first career hat trick to earn just their third win all-time in 15 games in western New York.

“We came out and battled and that was our theme of the week. We did the simple things and at times outworked them. But that’s a very good hockey team that’s not indicative of that team.”

RMU got off to a 2-6-0 start with wins against Alaska-Anchorage and Quinnipiac, but had scored more than one goal just once in their last five games leading to the Niagara series. They netted five in the win and three more in a tie in Moon Township the next day in the home-and-home series.

“If you look at our schedule, we’re playing all ranked teams and our strength of schedule is number one in the nation. We traveled to Alaska, traveling to Big Rapids, home against a ranked and unbeaten team in Quinnipiac, then to Bemidji and back on the bus to come here, we’ve put a lot of miles in.

“At times we’re a little fatigued, but I’m happy with our offense, but we need to make sure to tighten up defensively.”

Kushneriuk, who played at Wayne State two seasons ago in their final campaign, took over the team lead with his fourth, fifth and sixth goals of the season.

“I like to lurk around the net and try to find rebounds,” said the Ottawa native. “I’m never going to be an extremely flashy player, but when you’re playing with guys like (Nathan) Longpre and (Zach) Hervato, it makes everyone’s job a lot easier. I think our line right now has the right mindset.”

With the 3-3 tie at Robert Morris, Niagara ended their eight-game losing streak. Four days later, they finally earned the first win of the season on home ice against RPI thanks to three goals from freshmen Brent Vandenberg (2) and Giancario Iuorio—his first collegiate goal.

The Purps may have answered a few other season-long questions over the last five days as well with junior goaltender Adam Avramenko making 19 saves with one goal allowed against the Engineers after a 31-save effort in the Robert Morris tie.

And the Niagara power play, last in the nation with one marker over the first seven games, has exploded with six goals in their last 13 chances.

Robert Morris travels to Colorado College, currently seventh in the INCH Power Rankings, before again making the trek to Niagara the day before Thanksgiving.

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

· Just five days after the Niagara coaching staff thought they would be making an announcement about senior defenseman Ryan Annesley being lost for the season due to a shoulder injury, the Purps’ best defenseman appeared in the lineup for both games against the Colonials and then tallied two assists in the win over RPI.

· Bemidji State announced the signing of forwards Radoslav Illo (Bystrica, Slovakia) and Jeff Jubinville (Edmonton, Alberta) during the fall early signing period and will join the program for the 2010-11 campaign. Illo was a fifth round draft choice of Anaheim in June.

· Bemidji State is averaging exactly three goals per game more in the second game of a two-game series than the first game this season. They have scored 11 goals in series-openers while piling up 26 goals in the second tilt of the weekend.

· After managing just one goal over two home losses to UMass-Lowell last weekend, Alabama-Huntsville takes a 119:14 scoreless streak into Bemidji State this weekend. The Chargers are riding a six-game losing streak, but two of those losses were to the Beavers and both went into overtime Halloween weekend. UAH hasn’t scored more than one goal in a game since Oct. 17.