It was easy for prognosticators to discount St. Lawrence’s chances entering this season because of the quantity and quality of players that the Saints didn’t have returning - especially on defense. Now the Saints have put themselves in position for a top-four spot in ECAC Hockey and first-round bye in the playoffs.

“I think our guys are showing themselves that we’re not a 10th-place team, like we were picked,” Saints head coach Joe Marsh said.

The highly-regarded blue line quartet of Matt Generous, Shawn Fensel, Zach Miskovic and Jared Ross never once missed a night in the Saints’ lineup as long as they were healthy. They anchored the Saint defense for four years and laced up the skates 574 times, playing all situations and logging tons of minutes. But the story of this season can’t be told without talking about the other two primary contributors one year ago, current seniors Jeff Caister and Derek Keller.

“That was the biggest difference when you talk about where we were going to be compared to last year, the biggest difference was we lost four senior D. That was a pretty good D corps. What we’ve gotten is a surprise, a pleasant surprise,” Marsh said.

“I can’t say enough about Caister and Keller. They’ve been unbelieveable workhorses for us. The two of them have logged … I’d be interested to see what their minutes are.”

Those seniors have led the way in ice time and leadership, and have been joined by promising youngsters such as freshman George Hughes, Jordan Dewey and Peter Child. Hughes is the Saints’ leading scorer among defensemen with 16 points. Child played in St. Lawrence’s first 24 games after missing last year due to injury, and is again suffering injury problems and could miss the rest of the year. Juniors Matt Raley and Bobby Torney have also appeared regularly for the Saints.

All of this has taken place in front of senior goaltender Kain Tisi, the red-hot senior. Tisi is 8-4-2 in 14 starts with a 1.99 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. He had just five wins in 16 career starts prior to this season.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the leadership that we got back. Derek Keller and Jeff Caister have been tremendous back there. I don’t know how many minutes they’re averaging a game but I think a lot of credit goes to those guys,” Tisi said.

A turning point for Tisi and the rest of the team took place Jan. 1 and 2 in Denver. Tisi earned a longer look between the pipes after making 27 saves in a 5-2 win over nationally-ranked Boston College in the opening day of the Denver Cup. St. Lawrence tied Nebraska-Omaha the following day.

“I think it’s a good step in the right direction,” Tisi said. “You go out there, you’re not quite sure what to expect with those big teams out there. Us, we’re kind of the underdogs going in, but to go in there and steal a game from BC, tie Nebraska, it was kind of an eye-opener and I think a lot of us really it was the starting point for the confidence of our team.”

Tisi was given opportunities to win the starting netminding job at various points throughout his first three years, but has now settled in to that role and is playing the best hockey of his career.

“Since Boston College he’s been on a roll. He’s an older player, he’s been through a lot and he’s playing with great confidence, seeing the puck well, doing a great job through traffic. He’s just in a good place right now,” Marsh said of Tisi.

Marsh described the senior netminding tandem of Tisi and Alex Petizian as a “little team within the team” and remarked that team is going along quite well.

The Saints followed the trip to Denver with a split at Niagara and then posted a 4-1-1 record in six ECAC Hockey contests over the remainder of January. St. Lawrence stands in a three-way tie for second place with Union and Yale, two points back of Cornell and the Saints visit RPI and Union this weekend.

“I think we’re in a good place. We’re proving that we’re one of the best teams in the country right now,” Tisi said. “I think we’re definitely proving to ourselves that we can hang in there.”

GOOD, BAD, UGLY

The Good: Two ECAC Hockey student-athletes are among the 10 national finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Quinnipiac’s Jean-Marc Beaudoin and Cornell’s Colin Greening are up for the award, which is presented to a Division I senior who has notable achievements in the fields of classroom, character, community and competition. The Bad: Hockey is a game played on ice in winter months. Of course it’s bound to be cold from time to time. To me, the uncomfortable conditions are when rinks are too warm. The Ugly: Harvard was whistled for 17 penalties totaling 58 minutes and allowed three power-play goals in 11 opportunities to Boston College in Monday’s Beanpot semifinal. The Crimson are 3-16-0 in their last 19 Beanpot games.

BOSTON - Northeastern fans regretfully do this to themselves every year. They build up the Beanpot, hoping like hell this will be the one that ends the dry spell. In the back of their minds, they feel like they already know the outcome, but they can’t stomach the thought enough to admit it.

This year was no different. Boston University scraped past NU 2-1 in the Beanpot semifinals, and the Huskies’ title drought now stands at 23. It was, unquestionably, a phenomenal game that featured a number of twists, turns and loops. In the end, despite the dramatics, BU claimed another victory and will play - who else? - Boston College in next Monday’s final.

Northeastern’s Kyle Kraemer tied the game 1-1 with a slap shot from above the left point, capping off a long power play to justify the Huskies’ momentum seizure at 9:34 of the third period.

“When we scored that goal, I thought we were going to win the game. We had the momentum going,” Kraemer said. “The bench was as good as it had been all game, probably all year. We all thought we were going to win. It’s a shame.”

But less than five minutes later, BU freshman Alex Chiasson netted the game-winner, as his wrister from the right point barely trickled past goalie Chris Rawlings and over the goal line. It was Chiasson’s first career Beanpot affair, but he doomed the Huskies like he had been at BU forever. The Terriers, after all, have beaten NU 15 consecutive times since falling in the 1988 Beanpot final.

“It was a great game, obviously, to go down to the wire like that. There was a lot of drama in the game,” Northeastern coach Greg Cronin said. “I like the way our team played. I told them after the game I don’t like the outcome, but I like the way we played.”

The redeeming factors don’t count for a thing on the stat sheet, but Cronin was right. His Huskies fought like rabid, starving dogs scraping to find a piece of meat in a junkyard. The effort was ferocious. The result will be as bland as any statistic, fading into a black-and-white etching for eternity.

Kraemer and his teammates played for themselves as much as they played for the packed student section that lifted their bench for 60 minutes of passionate hometown hockey. In the end, the result was all too familiar. The Huskies hoped to write a storybook, but the reality bit with cruelty.

“Seeing the fans up there going at it is unbelievable,” Kraemer said. “Playing college hockey in Boston is probably the best thing for a college kid. It’s like playing college football in Texas. It’s the same thing with hockey here.”

Meanwhile, the Terriers have a chance to win their 30th Beanpot in the tournament’s 58-year history. He understands Northeastern’s pain - heck, he’s caused the majority of it - but Parker can’t really relate to the disappointment on that opposing bench.

“I truly believe that there’s more pressure on the teams that haven’t won it in awhile,” Parker said. “We’ve got guys in the dressing room who have won the Beanpot. I think there’s a lot more pressure on the teams that haven’t won in awhile to win. Let’s get this done, and the longer it goes, the worse it gets.

“In the end, it’s hard to take. It’s hard to take if you’ve played four years at X school and have never won a Beanpot.”

BOX SCORE: Boston University 2, Northeastern 1

MUSE RISES UP

John Muse earned his reputation as one of the nation’s elite goalies by playing his best brand of hockey on the brightest stages. His image suffered a bit during the last year, as he showed a human side that resulted from a torn labrum.

Now, as of Monday night, consider Muse back on top. The Boston College junior made 33 saves to lift the Eagles to a 6-0 win against Harvard in the first game of the Beanpot semifinals.

“John Muse was very good in goal,” said Jerry York, who will be coaching in his 11th Beanpot final. “He made some good saves down around the net in loose-puck situations. It’s an area he’s trying to get better at. He battled a lot better tonight for loose-puck situations.”

Muse didn’t need to be great in this game. Quite frankly, he barely needed to be average, at the Eagles scored six goals. But Muse was in lockdown mode prior to the conclusion of the first period, swatting aside a pair of shots from the point to keep BC ahead, 1-0. Boston College senior Matt Price rewarded Muse’s efforts by doubling the Eagles’ lead 18 seconds into the second period, and BC kept going from there.

“It always builds confidence when you make saves in the last minute of a period, especially in a 1-0 game like that,” Muse said. “It was real helpful that we went out with a 1-0 lead after the first, and we built off that.”

York pulled Muse in favor of third-stringer Chris Venti with 2:34 remaining in the third period, so Muse wasn’t credited with a shutout. Still, it was the team’s first shutout of the 2009-10 season, and it was BC’s first shutout in the Beanpot since 2002.

The performance was the epitome of Muse’s turnaround from last season when he gave up six goals on 24 shots in a 6-1 loss to Northeastern on the first night of the Beanpot. All in the past, Muse said, and for good reason. With the hip healthy and another great showing on national television, Muse appears to be ready to lock down the net for another long run.

“Last year’s game was last year’s game,” Muse said. “I think I had plenty of confidence coming in. I think I’ve been playing pretty well lately. I wasn’t looking for a shutout. I was looking for a win. Luckily, we scored a bunch of goals. That always help, and we play next week in the late game.”

BOX SCORE: Boston College 6, Harvard 0

SEEN AND HEARD AT THE TD GARDEN

• If there are two Fighting Sioux fans on any milk cartons in North Dakota, we’ve found them. They somehow found their way to the Garden for the first night of the Beanpot, and they were proudly wearing their Sioux sweaters. As far from home as they were, the fans did find a familiar sight - a Boston College victory.

• A Northeastern fan wearing a Hartford Whalers sweater was featured on the arena’s video board and the NU student section honored the classic display by singing “Brass Bonanza.”

• Harvard defenseman Alex Biega must have mistaken Boston College goalie John Muse for Bruins netminder Tim Thomas in the second period, when Biega launched a shot from center ice. Unlike Thomas, Muse had no problem keeping the puck out of the net.

• The Boston College student section was overheard cheering, “Safety school,” at the Harvard faithful in the second period of their game.

• As the first game was wrapping up, the Northeastern student section looked toward the BU students and chanted, “Sasquatch, Sasquatch, you suck!”

• The BU fans erupted when the video boards showed two young kids - one BU supported and one BC denizen - clamoring for attention. Eventually, the BU kid shoved the BC fan out of the way, and the Terrier faithful loved every second of it.

• Northeastern fans were chanting, “Yes you can!” in the first period of the NU-BU game, which was a play on President Barack Obama’s campaign slogan. However, Obama held a rally for Martha Coakley at Northeastern prior to this month’s Massachusetts Senatorial election, and things didn’t turn out too favorable for the Democratic party in that debacle.

• The second game was great for a number of reasons, but the atmosphere was made that much more special because the BU and Northeastern student sections were adjacent to one another.

• The BU students wrapped up an entertaining battle with the NU section by chanting “1988″ after the Terriers wrapped up their victory.

• Jack Parker was asked how much he enjoys playing Boston College in a Beanpot final, and the BU coach replied, “We like to play anybody in the Beanpot final.” Parker then lamented it isn’t good for the tournament when BU and BC keep winning the thing, and though he didn’t say it, that might have had something to do with the light crowd on hand. “People are tired of [BU and BC always winning] in some way,” Parker said.

• The Huskies had a number of odd-man rushes and good looks at the net, and they didn’t always take the shot, which displeased Northeastern coach Greg Cronin, who said, “My biggest problem with the odd-man rush or the even-man rush is we wouldn’t shoot the damn puck.” Cronin “conservatively” estimated there were six times when the Huskies held onto the puck when they should have shot it.

Cornell prepared for its final five weeks of regular-season play in ECAC Hockey with an unusual weekend set at Lynah Rink. For starters, the Big Red’s guests from North Dakota were just the second WCHA team to visit Ithaca in Lynah Rink’s 53-year history. Secondly, the Big Red were outplayed by a slight margin and outshot on their home ice on back-to-back nights. Standout forwards Riley Nash and Colin Greening were held without a point.

Ben Scrivens

Despite all of that, Cornell managed to get a series split against North Dakota - ranked fourth in the INCH Power Rankings and both national polls.

“I think facing a team like North Dakota, one of the top teams in the country, they really challenged us,” Cornell forward Blake Gallagher said. “It put everything into perspective in terms of where we are as a hockey team and where we need to go and what we need to improve on. Playing a tough team like that, I think both teams got better this weekend.”

Friday’s 1-0 Cornell victory featured one of the best performances of the distinguished career of senior Ben Scrivens. The netminder’s shutout was the 14th of his career, moving him to second on Cornell’s all-time list past third-place Ken Dryden. Scrivens showed early in the game that he was going to have a big night. While North Dakota carried the play and generated quality scoring chances, Scrivens was sharp in tracking the puck well, controlling his crease area and making certain that no loose pucks or errant rebounds were left for Sioux players to pounce on.

“I felt pretty good from start to finish,” Scrivens said. “You try to prepare the same way for every game, but today it felt like the puck was sticking to me, not kicking out to bad places. When you play to your potential you want to build off of that and keep it going with a strong second half.”

By all accounts, Cornell played better Saturday despite losing 3-1. They had more scoring chances and didn’t turn the puck over as much as the previous night.

The end of the result of the weekend, a series split against an elite team that leaves the Big Red with the confidence that they can play with the nation’s best and the knowledge that there’s room for improvement.

“It was a hard-fought series and we knew that coming in. Both games were a real grind and I talked to our team after ward and said this is going to make us a better hockey team and will help us prepare for the next five, six, seven, eight weeks,” Cornell coach Mike Schafer said.

THREE MORE THINGS WORTH KNOWING

• Senior standouts Kain Tisi and Travis Vermeulen have carried St. Lawrence in recent weeks. The Saints are surging and Tisi, the senior goalie, is playing the best hockey of his collegiate career. Tisi has a .959 save percentage and 1.23 goals-against average in the Saints’ last four games. Vermeulen had six points on nine St. Lawrence goals last weekend - a sweep of Brown and Yale, and factored on all four goals with two goals and two assists in the win over Yale. Vermeulen leads the Saints in goals (11) and points (24) and has 11 points in his current six-game point streak. Senior forwards Mike McKenzie (5-13-18) and Alex Curran (6-10-16) also rank among SLU’s top-five scorers.

• Full credit goes to Harvard, one of the hottest teams in ECAC Hockey, for maintaining its unbeaten streak behind a third-period rally at Rensselaer on Saturday afternoon. The Crimson trailed 2-0 after two periods on a pair of soft goals allowed by goalie Ryan Carroll (who was sensational in a 47-save victory over Union one night earlier). Kyle Richter took over between the pipes in the third period and the Crimson got on the board 20 seconds into the period, but RPI regained its two-goal lead just 51 seconds later. Alex Killorn answered for Harvard and Louis Leblanc scored with three seconds left in the third and the goalie pulled to knot the score. Leblanc capitalized on a loose puck at the weak side post and tucked it into the net prior to the buzzer sounded and before a scrum in the crease dislodged the net.

• The Good: Princeton returned from its exam break with an 8-1 win over Connecticut on Monday. Eric Meland had three goals and two assists in the game, the first hat trick of his college career. The Bad: The Clarkson Golden Knights are just 1-7-2 in road games this year. Even worse news, Clarkson’s next four games are on the road. The Ugly: Cornell hasn’t scored in its last 28 power-play opportunities.

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.

It might have taken for the calendar to turn to 2010 but the promise of a talented team and one of the brightest prospects in ECAC Hockey are starting to show. The Harvard Crimson have won three straight conference games and first-round NHL Draft Pick Louis Leblanc is the reigning ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week after scoring two goals in each of his last two games - Crimson victories over Yale and Dartmouth.

Louis Leblanc

For Leblanc, the college adjustment, a return to health and a bit of motivation have combined at just the right time. His recent four-goal binge has moved him into the team lead in that category with eight and he is second overall in points with 14, in 14 games played.

Leblanc’s college career got off to a flying start. He had at least one point in each of his first five games and totaled two goals and seven points in that stretch. Things quieted after that, as he had just three points in his next seven games. During that time, Leblanc battled a wrist injury and participated in Canada’s Selection Camp prior to the World Junior Championship in mid-December. Leblanc went to camp still healing that injury and hadn’t played meaningful hockey in two weeks leading up to the camp. He was one of the last cuts from the team - and is eligible to play in next year’s event - but the idea of rejection stung.

“I was a little rusty and didn’t have the best camp but they told me to keep working and to come back next year,” Leblanc said. “It was still the first time for me getting cut from a team and I think that left me with a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I want to show them that I deserved to play on that team.”

The Crimson and Leblanc are finding their way. Leblanc is playing on a highly-skilled line with Michael Biega and Alex Killorn and there has been strong leadership from senior captain Alex Biega. Leblanc grew up nearby the Biega family and has been lifelong friends. Brothers Alex, Michael and Danny Biega are all regulars in the Crimson lineup.

After struggling in the 2008-09 season and crashing out in the first round of the league playoffs, Harvard started its 2009-10 campaign with a road win at Dartmouth and things were looking up. But a 10-game winless streak followed during November and December and it appeared the Crimson were headed for another disappointing year.

“It was tough. We knew we had a good team and had good players, but we didn’t have a great start,” Leblanc said. “For sure the mood’s happy right now. Things are starting to click, we’re improving as a team and we want to leavue upstate New York with four points this weekend, but it will be tough. We want to get back in the race for a top-four spot.”

Even Harvard’s only two losses during its last five games - back-to-back defeats at Minnesota - yielded some positives. It was the team’s first road trip of the year via plane and allowed the Crimson to spend some quality time together and focus for the second half. An increased sense of team camaraderie within social and academic settings has the Crimson poised for another second-half run in ECAC Hockey.

GOOD, BAD, UGLY

The Good: Union keeps rolling along and Jason Walters is pacing the Dutchmen offense. He has a 13-game point-scoring streak. The Bad: Dartmouth dropped the annual Battle of the RiverStone game against in-state rival New Hampshire for the sixth time in nine meetings. There was one tie. The Ugly: Fans at ECAC Hockey rinks over the past week and in upcoming games have been and will be sure to buy a program to re-acquaint themselves with the rosters of their local clubs. Six of the teams haven’t played a home game since or prior to Dec. 11.

Several key conference games make this mid-January weekend particularly relevant in terms of league standings. We also highlight a cross-regional matchup between teams heading in opposite directions.

Miami at Ferris State (Friday-Saturday)

Blair Riley scored two of Ferris State's three goals in a November series against Miami.

The odds-on CCHA preseason favorites meet up with this year’s surprise story this weekend with plenty to decide in the standings. The RedHawks and Bulldogs enter the weekend tied for first place with 34 points in 14 conference games. Momentum will be the story in Friday’s series opener as the RedHawks enter the game on the heels of dropping two games to lightly-regarded Robert Morris while Ferris State dominated the third period in each of its two wins last weekend over Notre Dame.

These teams met two months ago in Oxford, Ohio and couldn’t settle things after 65 minutes of hockey each night. The visiting Bulldogs earned bonus standings points through the shootout after each tie and some Ferris State fans described the weekend as a sweep. This weekend on home ice they’ll get the opportunity to pursue such an achievement in a more traditional manner.

Wisconsin at Colorado College (Friday-Saturday)

It’s a chance for the homestanding Tigers to get back on track after last week’s sweep at the hands of Minnesota Duluth, and for the Badgers to solidify their chase of the MacNaughton Cup. CC won six straight games in November, but is just 2-5-2 since then.

Wisconsin is five points behind first-place Denver with two games in hand, and is just a point behind fourth-place CC despite having played two fewer games. This will be the first meaningful hockey for the boys from Madison since winning the Badger Showdown title two weeks ago. Last week’s slate included an exhibition against the US NTDP Under-18s and several key Badgers rested for that one. They will get a boost in the lineup as Derek Stepan, John Ramage and Jake Gardiner return to the lineup after winning gold for the United State at the World Junior Championship.

Massachusetts vs. UMass Lowell (Fri. at UMass; Sat. at Lowell)

This in-state rivalry doesn’t get the notoriety of BC-BU or UNH-Maine within Hockey East circles but it means plenty to the fans, students, alumni and teams that are involved. This weekend it also means a great deal in the Hockey East standings. Since almost nothing was determined in the first half of the Hockey East season, this is a big chance for one of these teams to make a big jump in the standings and get some quality wins in terms of NCAA Tournament criteria.

These teams are currently tied for fourth place in Hockey East with 14 points, though UMass Lowell has played one fewer game. They met once earlier this year, a 5-3 win for Lowell on home ice that saw the River Hawks rally from a two-goal deficit.

St. Cloud State at Quinnipiac (Friday-Saturday)

This is a classic meeting of teams headed in different directions. The St. Cloud State Huskies have put together a solid run of four straight victories and are 7-1-1 in their last nine contests. They’ve vaulted to third place in the WCHA and have outscored their opponents 19-7 in their four-game win streak. Of course, those four wins came against Brown and Michigan Tech. This week’s tests at Quinnipiac will be tougher, even though the Bobcats are skidding. After starting 12-1-0 and moving into the top 10 of the national polls, Quinnipiac is just 1-6-1 since then and has lost six straight conference outings to lose their grasp on first place. This weekend’s games against St. Cloud State and next week’s tilts against Niagara are a good opportunity for the Bobcats to right the ship before the home stretch in ECAC Hockey play.

Also: One of the WCHA’s best rivalries resumes in Minneapolis when North Dakota visits Minnesota for two … Boston College hosts Maine Friday night in a meeting of top teams in Hockey East … Union, atop ECAC Hockey, hosts travel partner Rensselaer Saturday in a highly-contested rivalry that has already featured three very good games this season … Michigan State and Notre Dame will play a home-and-home in the CCHA and Michigan hosts Alaska for a pair at Yost.

TV Schedule | INCH Pick ‘Em

Among a number of streaking teams in ECAC Hockey, the case of the Colgate Raiders is particularly interesting heading into this weekend’s play. At first glance, Colgate’s recent run of one win and five losses over its last six games isn’t very impressive. However, there is reason for optimism as Colgate returns to conference play with games at St. Lawrence and Clarkson this weekend. Colgate is currently fifth in the league with a 5-3-1 conference mark, despite being just 7-8-4 overall.

Colgate is scoring more goals per game and allowing fewer goals per game in conference play relative to its overall record, led by David McIntyre and Austin Smith who each have 13 points in nine ECAC Hockey contests.

Brian Day, a New York Islanders draft pick, leads Colgate with 12 goals this year.

This week’s opposition and Friday-Saturday schedule provides some familiarity for the Raiders (even moreso for coach Don Vaughan, a St. Lawrence alum). They played a disjointed slate from late-November through the early part of January. It started with a Tuesday night game at Cornell (4-2 loss) prior to Thanksgiving and a week and a half layoff before splitting at Union (loss) and Rensselaer (win). Another two week break ended with a Sunday afternoon contest at Canisius, a 7-6 overtime loss. The Raiders then headed to suburban Chicago for the Shillelagh Tournament where they dropped games to Notre Dame and Niagara Jan. 2-3.

A sense of normalcy sets in beginning with this week’s North Country trip as the Raiders will play Friday and Saturday for the next seven weeks, with a Tuesday night visit from Cornell on Feb. 16 sprinkled in. All of the remaining games are conference matchups with the exception of next weekend’s visit by Robert Morris to Starr Rink.

For Colgate to continue its conference success, improved special teams and better goaltending are required. The improving health of sophomore goalie Alex Evin is a boost to complement senior Charles Long and if that duo can play consistently and reduce the occurrence of the occasional sloppy goal Colgate will be in good stead. The Raiders score plenty of goals, as they rank in the top five in the league in overall and conference scoring. Eight of the team’s nine top scorers could return next year, but the lone senior among that group, David McIntyre, will be tough to replace.

THREE MORE THINGS WORTH KNOWING

• Clarkson hired former Golden Knight goaltender Chris Rogles as an assistant coach. He fills the spot on the Clarkson staff vacated by Jean-Francois Houle, who became head coach of the Lewiston MAINEiacs of the QMJHL. Rogles, a former walk-on goalie at Clarkson, went on to compile a 44-13-4 record in his collegiate career and was part of four consecutive NCAA Tournament teams, two ECAC Hockey tournament titles and the regular-season championship in 1991. He played 15 years of professional hockey in North America and Europe. Rogles is expected to join the staff later this month.

• RPI had an outdoor skate and some ball hockey Wednesday afternoon. We’re not calling it a practice because head coach Seth Appert said it wasn’t. Ed Weaver from the Troy Record was on hand. Outdoor hockey is certainly in vogue and a similar event boosted Yale last season. We’ll see how it works for the Engineers ahead of Saturday’s game at Union. | Outdoor Skate Video from RPI Athletics

• The Good: Count me among the ones scratching my head when reading the Boston Herald on Monday to find out that Harvard’s losses to Minnesota were characterized by Ted Donato as a turning point. The Crimson turned around Tuesday night and upset nationally-ranked Yale, 3-2. The Bad: Brown has followed up its five-game winning streak with three straight losses and has allowed 19 goals in the last three defeats, including Dartmouth’s nine-spot Friday night. The Ugly: Eight of Princeton’s 10 losses this season have been by at least three goals.

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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The first weekend following the holiday break always seems like kind of a strange one. No one’s completely back into their routines yet—a lot of schools still aren’t in session yet—so there’s still a lingering vacation feel. Think of it as a transition week, one that sets us up for the six-week grind during which the league races really heat up.

But back to this weekend. Some teams jump right back into conference play, while others are engaged in non-conference action. Then there’s Boston College and Boston University, who venture outside for a game.

Ben Smith and Boston College have played Boston University plenty of times, but not in a venue like Fenway.

Boston College vs. Boston University (Friday at Fenway Park): Seeing these two teams play in Fenway is like seeing Springsteen perform during halftime of the Super Bowl—you get a sense of what the full show would be like, but the unique setting creates some limitations. Analyzing what could happen is futile, since no one can predict how either team will react in this highly charged environment.

There’s no question it’ll be a great scene, what with two bitter rivals clashing in front of more than 30,000 fans in one of the most hallowed sports venues in the world. As for the hockey itself,it’s not a stretch to say that the spate of outdoor games have hardly been memorable. When Michigan and Michigan State met in East Lansing in 2001, the play wasn’t sloppy, per se, but it did lack a certain flow.

Perhaps the biggest irony of the large-scale productions meant to celebrate the game of hockey is that the on-ice product is hardly worth celebrating.

Rensselaer and Union at Quinnipiac and Princeton: This weekend’s travel-partner set features four teams with intriguing mid-season storylines. Quinnipiac won 12 of its first 13 games but have gone just 1-4-1 in six games since then, and the lone victory came over American International. The Bobcats host RPI Friday night and Union Saturday. It’s the start of a stretch of eight home games in their next nine overall, and the Bobcats are a perfect 8-0-0 at home, a good time for them to get back on track.

Princeton had a disappointing first half but seems to be getting things back on track. They tied Maine and beat Cornell at the Florida College Classic and defeated Quinnipiac in overtime earlier this week on the strength of a Dan Bartlett hat trick. It total, Princeton carries a four-game unbeaten streak into the weekend and may be playing to its potential. The Tigers host Union on Friday night and RPI Sunday afternoon in an ESPNU-televised game, beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

RPI finished second at the Great Lakes Invitational by defeating Michigan in the semifinals before falling to Michigan State in the championship. Of course, they played those games without freshman forward Jerry D’Amigo, who helped the United States to a gold medal at the World Junior Championship. D’Amigo won’t play in Friday’s game at Quinnipiac as he recovers from the grueling international duty, but expects to be in the lineup for the televised game Sunday at Princeton.

Union has lost just once in its last 13 games (8-1-4) and that defeat came at the hands of nationally ranked Massachusetts. The Dutchmen are undefeated in league play with a 4-0-3 ECAC Hockey record, and stand just three points behind first-place Quinnipiac despite having played four fewer league games. Those teams meet on Saturday.

Ferris State at Notre Dame (Saturday-Sunday): The eight-game Ferris State Reality Tour (as in, are the Bulldogs for real?) continues this weekend with its third and fourth legs at the Joyce Center. The jury’s still out on Ferris after last week’s performance in Madison in the Badger Hockey Showdown—coach Bob Daniels’ team was rocked by Yale, but recovered to beat Merrimack, 5-1.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, showed some spark in a win against Colgate and tie with North Dakota at the Shillelagh Tournament in suburban Chicago. The Irish are in the midst of an important stretch of games as well, with series against Michigan State and surprising Lake Superior State on the horizon.

Colorado College at Minnesota Duluth (Friday-Saturday): These two teams split a series in Colorado Springs earlier this season, not suprising considering how evenly matched they are. Both the Bulldogs and Tigers have played 20 games, and both have scored 70 goals this season. Both have scored 49 goals in 14 league matches. Both have 12 overall wins and eight in the WCHA, but two points separate them in the conference standings; CC has two fewer losses and two more ties than UMD.

Both teams would also like to bounce back from disappointing losses during the holidays. The Tigers beat an excellent Cornell squad in the first round of the Florida College Classic, but allowed two third-period goals to Maine en route to a 3-2 loss in the tournament championship. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, throttled Mercyhurst in the first round of the Catamount Cup last week before host Vermont handed them a 5-2 loss in the title game.

Also: Bentley, fresh off wins against UConn and UMass at last week’s UConn holiday tournament, hosts Canisius in the week’s marquee series in Atlantic Hockey. … Only two CCHA teams have more goals this season than Lake Superior State. The Lakers, currently in fifth place in the league, head to East Lansing to face second-place Michigan State. … Important weekend for current Hockey East leader New Hampshire. The Wildcats host UMass Lowell Friday and UMass Saturday.

TV Schedule (all times Eastern): Friday—Boston College vs. Boston University, NESN and NHL Network, 7:30 p.m.; Lake Superior State at Michigan State, Fox Sports Net Detroit, 7:30 p.m.; Connecticut at Air Force, CBS College Sports, 8 p.m.; Harvard at Minnesota, Fox Sports Net North, 8 p.m.; Minnesota State at North Dakota, Fox College Sports, 8:30 p.m.; Alaska Anchorage at Denver, Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday—UMass Lowell at Northeastern, NESN, 7:30 p.m.; Minnesota State at North Dakota, Fox College Sports, 8 p.m.; Alaska Anchorage at Denver, Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain, 9 p.m.; Harvard at Minnesota, Fox Sports Net North, tape delay TBA.

Sunday—Rensselaer at Princeton, ESPNU, 3 p.m.; Massachusetts at Northeastern, ESPNU, 8 p.m.