Just as the calendar turns from October to November, conference schedules undergo a similar shift. Gone are the non-conference contests with teams playing for league pride; instead,now  they’re battling each other for league points.

Two of the more notable games on the schedule as teams look to begin to make a move in the Hockey East standings involve the same team, as Maine takes to the road to face Boston College on Friday before a Saturday night contest against border rival New Hampshire. The Black Bears enter the weekend at 3-1 in Hockey East play, but each of those four games have been played in the friendly confines of Alfond Arena, including a hard-fought sweep of Providence last weekend.

Sophomore goaltenders Dan Sullivan (pictured) and Martin Ouellette have split time in goal for Maine this season.

“Both of these games are going to be a very tough challenge for us – we’re going to have to play very disciplined, both in staying out of the penalty box and in how we manage the puck,” Maine head coach Tim Whitehead said of this weekend’s contests. “Both teams have the ability to counter-attack with speed, and they have the skilled players to burn you on the power play. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

With one of the most passionate fan bases in all of college hockey, the past few seasons have been difficult for Maine and its supporters. None of the current players on the roster have experienced an NCAA tournament game, a streak that the upperclassmen on this year’s team appear determined to snap. Maine’s top 10 scorers are all either seniors or juniors, with those two classes having accounted for 51 of the team’s 53 points on the year.

“You always want to see your players develop and improve,” Whitehead said. “For the past few years, the seniors were almost looked at as Gustav Nyquist (who made his NHL debut earlier this week) and his fellow seniors, but the guys who are here have really raised their game. The juniors were pretty quiet during their first two years here, and we’re excited about the surprise we’ve seen from the juniors emerging.”

Indeed, none of this year’s juniors had more than 33 points entering their third seasons in Orono. While seniors Brian Flynn (3-6–9) and Spencer Abbott (3-5–8) are producing at the same rate they’ve been scoring during their first three seasons, juniors Joey Diamond (3-3–6) and Will Mangene (1-5–6) are contributing a point per contest to provide additional offensive scoring punch for Maine.

With the veterans shouldering the load on offense, it’s a pair of sophomores sharing the job in front of the net. Dan Sullivan and Martin Ouellette have split time, with Ouellette getting the opener each weekend and Sullivan playing the second night. Sullivan has a .914 save percentage and a 2.28 goals-against average, while Ouellette has numbers of .882 and 2.98.

“Both guys are giving us an opportunity to win, and we’re probably going to stick with that rotation,” Whitehead said. “Both players trained hard over the summer, and the success they’re having is no accident. They’re getting plenty of reps in practice, and both knew after last season that if they put in the work, and controlled the things they could control, that good things were going to happen.”

Pinpointing a reason for Maine’s early season success isn’t easy; the Black Bears haven’t bludgeoned their opposition (outscoring its opponents by just three, 19-16), and they don’t possess a lethal power play (16.1 percent). The Black Bears have a solid penalty killing unit, but not spectacular, killing off 84.8 percent of the penalties against them.

What Maine has done well is win the close games. During last weekend’s series sweep against Providence, the Black Bears grabbed their first two-goal lead of the weekend with one second remaining in the third period of Saturday’s 3-1 victory. Outside of Maine’s 6-3 win against Northeastern on Oct. 9, the Black Bears have held a lead of more than one goal for a total of three and a half minutes this season, with all but one second of that coming in a 3-3 tie at North Dakota on Oct. 15.

“We’ve talked about that quite a bit, that we’re going to be in a lot of close games, and we’d better get used to it,” Whitehead said. “Our focus has been on executing under pressure and sticking to the game plan.”

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

- New Hampshire‘s win on Saturday against Northeastern gave head coach Dick Umile the 300th Hockey East victory of his illustrious career. Umile joins Boston University coach Jack Parker as the only coaches with 300 wins in Hockey East play. Umile has 486 total victories in his 22nd season with the Wildcats.

- The only two Hockey East clubs without a point in league play – Vermont and UMass-Lowell – are also the only two teams who have played just two games. Northeastern has already played six league contests, while Boston College and Massachusetts played have five each. Every other league team has played four conference contests so far.

- Merrimack goaltender Joe Cannata stands fourth in the nation in goals-against average and ninth in save percentage, leading Hockey East in both categories. The Warriors lead the nation in scoring defense, allowing a stingy 1.17 goals per contest.

- On the other end of the ice, Boston College is third in the nation in scoring offense, lighting the lamp an average of 4.50 times per game. Bill Arnold leads the Eagle offense with 12 points in eight games.

Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend—Sunday morning at 2 a.m., to be exact—so we must remember to turn our clocks back one hour or risk being late for work (like really late, as opposed to the typical five or so minutes late) Monday morning. But while we can’t forget to fall back, outcomes of some key hockey matches during this fall weekend could help the winners spring forward. Confused? Just read on, and don’t forget about that clock thing.

Defenseman Mark Alt has helped Minnesota to its best start in a decade.

North Dakota at Minnesota (Friday-Saturday): Over the past decade, this series has been more even than you might expect—North Dakota holds a 20-15-3 edge since the start of the 2001-02 season. Fighting Sioux fans would say that statistic is somewhat deceiving since four of the Gophers’ 15 wins during that span came in 2001-02; Gopher boosters would say they’ve out-national championshipped NoDak 2-0 over the last 10 years, so you can have those four wins.

At 7-1-0, Minnesota is off to its best start since that magical 2001-02 campaign (please note that based on winning percentage, 7-1-0 is better than the Gophers’ 5-0-3 start in 2008-09) and the Gophs lead the WCHA in scoring offense, scoring defense, and power-play and penalty-kill success. North Dakota, meanwhile, ranks 10th in the Dub in scoring offense and scoring defense and has the circuit’s seventh-best power play and penalty kill; scoring balance, goaltending, and across-the-board consistency have been concerns for the Fighting Sioux thus far.

As clichéd as it sounds, this is one of those rivalries where records don’t matter and in the recent past we’ve seen the struggling team manage a sweep or a win and tie. All signs point to a big weekend for Minnesota, but North Dakota is arguably the best backed-into-a-corner team in the nation.

Western Michigan at Michigan (Friday-Saturday): With five wins and three ties in its first eight games, Western Michigan is off to its best start since 1973-74 when, in its first season of varsity hockey, the Broncos reeled off 16 in a row against the likes of Algoma and Henry Ford Community College. This weekend, they’re off to Ann Arbor where WMU has won just 12 times in 51 tries.

The Broncos and Wolverines actually match up quite well. Shawn Hunwick gives Michigan an edge in goal, but Western probably has the better defensive corps with Dan DeKeyser, Garrett Haar, Matt Tennyson, and Luke Witkowski. U-M has more balance at forward, but WMU has been slightly better on special teams. The games could hinge on which team gets off to a better start—the Broncos have outscored foes in the first period by a 14-3 margin, but if the Wolverines jump out to the lead first, Western could start to press knowing full well of their woes at Yost.

Colgate at Yale (Saturday): Colgate, rated 13th in the most recent INCH Power Rankings, is an interesting team. Not Dos Equis man interesting; curious is probably a better choice of words. Every Raider game has gone down to the wire—their 4-2-1 record includes three one-goal wins, two of them coming in OT, and a pair of one-goal losses. They’ve beaten some quality opponents (Miami, Nebraska-Omaha) and had some head-scratching results (tying Army, losing at home to Niagara). They’re not a particularly high-scoring team, nor are they a lock-down defensive club. A visit to Ingalls Rink should serve as a measuring stick. Also, Saturday’s match gives fans the chance to see two of country’s top senior forwards—Yale’s Brian O’Neill and Colgate’s Austin Smith.

Minnesota Duluth at Denver (Friday-Saturday): Despite a loss and tie at Michigan Tech last weekend, the Pioneers enter this weekend with optimism. First, forward Beau Bennett, who missed the series in Houghton with a hand injury, is listed as probable this weekend. Second, goalie Adam Murray, who was hurt 10 minutes into Friday’s loss to the Huskies and sat out Saturday, returned to practice this week and should be full go. Third, freshman goalie Juha Olkinuora acquitted himself nobly in Murray’s stead, allowing three goals in 110 minutes of work. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, have three wins and a tie in their last four games after starting the year with a win and three losses. Senior forward Jack Connolly is on the verge of three career milestones—his next goal will be his 50th, he’s two assists shy of 100, and is three points short of 150.

Also: Maine is 3-2-1 with losses to Merrimack and North Dakota. We should have a better read on the Black Bears after this weekend’s games at Boston College and New Hampshire. … Seems odd, but Colorado College has never played at Nebraska-Omaha. The second-ranked Tigers trek to the Qwest Center this weekend. … Northern Michigan is 3-0-1 at home and 1-3-0 on the road. The Wildcats, who play three of their next four series in Marquette, host Notre Dame. … Welcome to the dance, Harvard! The Crimson, the last team in the country to start its season, hosts Princeton and Quinnipiac this weekend. Saturday’s contest against Harvard is Quinnipiac’s 11th game of the season.

For a hockey program, the off-season can be a double-edged sword. Injuries may heal and players may work to improve individual skills, but the positive momentum gained from a successful campaign can also melt away in the warm summer months.

With three weekends in the books this season, Merrimack hasn’t suffered any letdown from its historic 2010-11 campaign, the most successful season for the Warriors in more than two decades. Merrimack has started this year with a perfect 4-0 mark, the only club in Hockey East without a blemish on its record, and has given notice that its rise over the past few seasons was the result of a full team effort and not just one player carrying the club.

This weekend, Merrimack takes to the road for a two-game set at Vermont, a trip that head coach Mark Dennehy is anticipating.

“The extra day away gives our team an extra chance to bond, an opportunity for the entire team to get on the same page,” he said. “Once you get away from campus, it’s all about hockey. We returned 20 guys from last year and have a veteran club, so it’s easy to get our guys ready to play; they know the routine and they know what to expect.”

Oh, Cannata!: Merrimack's senior goalie enters this weekend's series at Vermont with a 1.33 GAA and a .944 save percentage.

Merrimack has gotten off to its strong start by riding its defense and penalty killing. The Warriors rank second nationally in scoring defense and are third in the country in penalty killing. Much of the work on the defensive end is courtesy of senior netminder Joe Cannata, who enters the weekend series in Burlington with a .944 save percentage and a 1.33 goals-against average.

“I’m biased in this, but I think he’s the most underrated goalie in our league,” Dennehy said. “He’s had a huge impact in changing the culture of our program. We’ve done a lot here in the last three years, all under his watch. He’s a poised goaltender and when a team has confidence in its goaltending, they play a little more freely, with a little more confidence.”

On the other end of the ice, the Warriors have benefited from a balanced approach, as 15 skaters have at least one point through the first four games, with 13 of those having at least two points. Senior co-captain Ryan Flanigan is the team’s top scorer, picking up three goals and five points through the first four games. Flanigan has picked up right where he left off at the end of last season, when he tallied six goals in the Warriors’ five playoff games.

“We really wanted to see what type of confidence he returned with this season,” Dennehy said of the forward from Rochester, N.Y. “He went to the New York Rangers’ development camp over the summer and really brought a lot of that experience back with him. He’s a vocal leader, but he’s also the type to get physical and do the dirty work.”

Dennehy’s club will be tested over the next few weeks as Merrimack plays four of its next five games—all Hockey East contests—away from Lawler Arena. After that stretch, the Warriors have just one game, a home contest against Alabama-Huntsville, in the ensuing three weeks.

“That was by accident, but it’ll give us an opportunity to assess the first quarter of our season,” Dennehy said. “It’ll give us a chance to get healthy, get some rest, and figure out what we need to work on.”

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

• Saturday marks the first time this season that all 10 teams will be in action in league games, something that only happens twice before the end of the calendar year.

• Few would question the amount of offensive firepower Boston University has, but the early part of the season has illustrated the Terriers will go only as far as their defense will allow. Including an exhibition loss to St. Francis Xavier, the Terriers have allowed at least five goals in its three losses; in the two wins over New Hampshire and Denver, the Terriers have allowed a total of three goals.

• New Hampshire‘s offense looks to be getting on track. In two games last weekend at St. Cloud State, the Wildcats tallied eight goals, with sophomore forward Nick Sorkin posting 3-1–4 for the weekend.

• After being dumped in the season opener by Minnesota by a 6-0 margin, Vermont posted an impressive response two days later by handing the Gophers their first loss of the season, 5-4. Kevin Sneddon’s club even trailed, 3-1, early in the second period of that second game before scoring the game’s next four goals and holding on for the victory.

Michigan, led by goaltender Shawn Hunwick, welcomes Ferris State to Ann Arbor for a two-game CCHA series.

Ferris State at Michigan (Thursday-Friday): In spite of its early-season showing, some college hockey observers have lingering doubts about Ferris State. Regardless of what happens in Ann Arbor, the Bulldogs are legit, ranking among top 14 nationally in scoring offense, scoring defense, and power-play and penalty-killing success rates. On the other hand, consider the jury out on Michigan; in its first real test of the season, the Wolverines lost and tied at Northern Michigan. Confirmed, however, was Michigan’s reliance on goalie Shawn Hunwick. After Hunwick was ejected midway through last Friday’s match against the Wildcats, backup Adam Janecyk allowed four goals on 14 shots in a 5-3 loss to NMU.

Ivy Shootout (Friday-Saturday at Hanover, N.H.): Five of the six Ivy League schools start regular-season play this weekend, and four of them—Brown, Dartmouth, Princeton, and Yale—participate in this non-conference event at Thompson Arena this weekend. Big things are expected from Yale, the top overall seed in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, and Dartmouth should challenge for a top-four spot in ECAC Hockey. In two seasons under coach Brendan Whittet, Brown has climbed from 12th to 11th to seventh in the league standings, and Princeton enters its first season under the direction of new head coach Bob Prier.

Colorado College at Rensselaer (Friday-Saturday): After back-to-back trips to Ferris State and Notre Dame, the Engineers return home to face the second-rated team in this week’s INCH Power Rankings. Injuries have robbed RPI of three centermen—Marty O’Grady, Brock Higgs and Jacob Laliberte—which could explain the team’s early-season scoring woes. With October almost over and just two regular-season games to their credit, the Tigers could apply for honorary Ivy League status. CC plays seven of its next nine away from home with trips to Nebraska-Omaha, Denver, and North Dakota on the horizon.

Northern Michigan at Western Michigan (Friday-Saturday): It’s probably way too early to start thinking about this stuff, but these two teams should be in the mix for a CCHA playoffs first-round bye come March and any edge one can gain now is a plus. The Western Michigan goaltending duo of Nick Pisellini and Frank (The Big) Slubowski has been terrific, but Northern Michigan’s tandem of Reid Ellingson and Jared Coreau has been quite good, too.

Also: The only Ivies not participating in this weekend’s event in Hanover are Cornell, which opens its season Saturday against Mercyhurst, and Harvard, which doesn’t start until next weekend. … Despite netting eight goals in a loss and tie at St. Cloud State last weekend, New Hampshire still ranks 42nd in the country in scoring offense at 1.80 goals per game. Friday, the Wildcats host a Union squad that currently stands fifth nationally in scoring defense, allowing an average of, you guessed it, 1.80 goals per game. … Speaking of St. Cloud State, the Huskies are at North Dakota, which works out nicely for Doug and Lorraine MacMillan of Penticton, British Columbia. One son, Mitch, is an SCSU sophomore forward; another, Mark, is a NoDak rookie forward.

JUSTIN FLOREK
Northern Michigan
Sr. | F | Marquette, Mich.

His Statistics: 2 GP, 1-4—5 in the Wildcats’ win and tie against Michigan.

His Impact: Florek has always been a reliable scorer—he entered the season with 35 goals and 81 points in 120 career games—but the Marquette native looking more like the elite power forward people thought he’d be when he joined the Wildcats following a stint with the U.S. National Team Development Program.

With five points in NMU’s win and tie against previously unbeaten Michigan this past weekend, Florek now has nine points (five goals, four assists) in six games for the Wildcats, who are off to their best start since 2005-06. He’s figured in on nearly half of his team’s 21 goals this season, including five of eight goals against the Wolverines.

Among CCHA skaters, only Notre Dame’s Anders Lee and T.J. Tynan have more points than the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Florek, and only Lee and Ferris State’s Travis Ouellette have more goals. He’s second in the league to Oullette with three power-play goals and his six power-play points leads the conference.

His Runners-Up: Bill Arnold, Boston College; Ryan Leets, Army; Allan McPherson, Clarkson; Jason Zucker, Denver.

The issues surrounding the demise of the Alabama-Huntsville hockey program are too numerous and complex to attack in this limited space; it’ll likely be the lead item on an INCH Podcast later this week. Instead, we’ll focus on the many great moments in Charger hockey history, including NCAA Division II national championships in 1996 and 1998 and runner-up finishes in 1994 and 1997, College Hockey America regular-season championships in 2001 and 2003, and CHA playoff titles in 2007 and 2010.

Alabama-Huntsville was 0-2 in two trips to the NCAA Tournament, but they were memorable appearances—in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Midwest Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich., the Chargers took top-seed Notre Dame to double overtime before losing, 3-2, and in 2010, UAH nearly bounced another top seed, Miami, in the Midwest Regional first round in Fort Wayne, Ind, losing 2-1.

Every so often, a team will get bitten by the injury bug. Then there’s Minnesota State, which has been mauled by the injury grizzly.

The Mavericks headed to Denver with 18 skaters and two goaltenders—injuries kept forwards J.P. Burkemper, Michael Dorr, Max Gaede, and Eriah Hayes and defensemen Tyler Elbrecht and Danny Heath at home. Then things got worse. In Friday’s 4-2 loss to DU, forward Chase Grant suffered a lower-body injury that, according to Minnesota State coach Troy Jutting via Shane Frederick of the Mankato Free Press, could keep him out for a while. The following night, defenseman Brett Stern was hurt in the first period of MSU’s 10-2 loss and did not return.

Mercifully, the Mavs are off this weekend.

What Happened?: Notre Dame’s Compton Family Ice Arena is a beautiful venue, but like any new facility there are a few kinks to work out. About 30 minutes after the inaugural game at the 5,000-seat rink Friday, someone or something inadvertently set off a fire alarm, prompting the building to be evacuated until the Notre Dame Fire Department arrived and gave the all clear. We’re not sure what went down, but our hunch is that someone found out what they thought was a shortcut to the parking lot wasn’t that at all.

What We’re (Not) Watching: Harvard, yet. It was nice to see the Ivy League schools get into some sort of competitive action this past weekend with some exhibitions and scrimmages, including Harvard’s game against Western Ontario. Up next for the Crimson … no games this weekend. Harvard plays its first regular season games Nov. 4-5 at home against Princeton and Quinnipiac. By the time the Crimson and Bobcats take the ice that Saturday night at Bright Hockey Center, Quinnipiac will have played 10 games.

What the …?: Through five games this season, Boston University has been as predictable as a Tracy Morgan soliloquy. In their opener, the Terriers shut out New Hampshire (which seemed impressive at the time). The following weekend, BU lost at Providence, then beat Denver the next night. Then this past Saturday, the Terriers were beaten by Holy Cross. Sense a trend? No, neither do we.

@Walldawg27 Andrew Wallace

Big fan of the cauliflower ear look. Open invitation for someone to sock me in the ear #streetcredit

• The biggest problem we had in this selection was choosing which of Bowling Green sophomore forward Andrew Wallace’s tweets to choose for this honor. His entire timeline is gold, including the claim that he leads the nation in “practice bar-downs” – not bad for a guy with five career points in 45 games. He’s a beauty.

Yes, it’s only two weekends into the Hockey East season, but a surprising name sits atop the Hockey East standings. And while it’s still early, Providence’s season-opening victories over Boston University and Massachusetts to begin the 2011-12 campaign will most certainly attract the attention of the rest of the league’s schools.

New head coach Nate Leaman’s club began the season with an impressive 5-3 victory against the Terriers, then avoided the second-night hangover with a 6-4 win against Massachusetts. The results were perhaps even more surprising since the Friars hadn’t played any games against external competition before facing Boston University.

“The schedule was already made when I started here, so it was both by coincidence and by design,” Leaman said. “We didn’t have any control over that, and I thought we could use the two weeks of practice.”

Junior defenseman Myles Harvey, who entered the season goalless in 52 career games at Providence, has three goals in the Friars' first two games.

Without having any idea of what to expect from his club in their first contest of the season, Leaman was as eager as anyone to see his new charges take the ice.

“I was as curious as everyone else, not having coached them in a game yet. I was really happy with our level of competition, and was really happy to see our team go after it and not sit back,” Leaman said.

Not sitting back might be a bit of an understatement. The Friars jumped on Boston University early, scoring twice in the first 3:22 and adding a third later in the first period to take a 3-0 lead into intermission.

“That start was good for us, to get the crowd into the game and get the momentum on our side,” Leaman said. “BU is a well-coached team and they can put you on your heels quickly, so we just tried to stay on them.”

Boston University cut into the lead in the second period and tied the game with a Garrett Noonan goal at the 3:13 mark of the third, but Leaman’s Friars didn’t surrender. Myles Harvey scored his first career goal two and a half minutes later, taking advantage of a high-sticking minor on BU’s Max Nicastro to score a power-play marker with 10 seconds left on the penalty. Ross Mauermann then added to the lead with an insurance tally with just over 11 minutes to play, and the Friars held on for Leaman’s first victory.

“Given the recent history of the program, it would have been really easy for the guys to sit back and settle for the tie, but for them to turn around and go after the game like that, they showed some real mental toughness,” Leaman said.

Harvey was a surprise on the weekend as the junior defenseman had finished his first two years at Providence without a goal. In the first two games of the season, Harvey potted three, adding another pair in Saturday’s game against Massachusetts, to earn the Friars’ first Hockey East Player of the Week honor in nearly two full seasons.

“He’s a guy who wants to get better every day,” Leaman said of the defenseman from Orlando, Fla. “He’s got a lot of poise and has a really good stick for a defenseman at 6-5. He shows up wanting to improve, and I’ve been really impressed with his work ethic and coachability.”

Another strong positive on the weekend was the offensive contribution from a variety of sources. Eight different players accounted for the 11 goals on the weekend, and 15 of the 18 skaters to play picked up at least one point. Even goaltender Alex Beaudry got in on the offensive act, collecting an assist on a shorthanded goal in Saturday’s win over Massachusetts. The variety of contributors wasn’t lost on Leaman.

“We’re going to have to play that way, where we’re manufacturing goals,” Leaman said. “We only scored 75 goals last season and only 25 of those are back this year. It was clear to us at the beginning, and we’re going to continue to talk about it, but we’re going to have to manufacture goals to be successful this year.”

And despite his team being halfway to last season’s Hockey East win total after just one weekend, Leaman and his club set to work right away preparing for this weekend’s series against the defending national champions, Minnesota Duluth, who visit Schneider Rink for a two-game set.

“We turned the page first thing on Monday,” Leaman said. “I thought Alex Beaudry was our best player on the weekend, but we clearly need to improve our play in front of him. This is a huge series for both us as a team and for our league—we’re representing Hockey East, they’re (Minnesota Duluth) representing the WCHA, and we want to represent both ourselves and our league well.”

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

• Providence wasn’t the only Hockey East club with a new head coach to start off with a sweep in its opening weekend, as UMass Lowell went to Minnesota State and came home with two wins for new coach Norm Bazin. The River Hawks faltered in a mid-week game on Tuesday, though, dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to Connecticut in Nashua, N.H.

• UMass-Lowell is one of two Hockey East clubs who have yet to play their first league game this season. The other: Vermont, who has yet to have any games that count thus far, playing only the U.S. Under-18 National Team on Friday night. The Catamounts finally join the party with a two-game set at Minnesota on Friday and Sunday. Both UMass Lowell and Vermont play their Hockey East openers on Oct. 28.

There’s a bit of a theme in this week’s Four-cast—three of the four matchups we spotlight pit teams we expected to do well against under-the-radar clubs with promising early results. And in each case, the upstart also serves as the host.

Reilly Smith and Miami open CCHA play this weekend with a trip to Ferris State.

Miami at Ferris State (Friday-Saturday): The Bulldogs, unbeaten in four games and outscoring foes by a 15-3 margin, notched an impressive sweep of Rensselaer last weekend, but Ferris State starts the CCHA portion of its schedule with a visit from Miami followed by a trip to Michigan. The RedHawks, who’ve split their first two series, have been outshot by a 108-83 margin through four games; in the first period, Miami has is getting outshot, 41-21.

Minnesota Duluth at Providence (Friday-Saturday): It’s far too soon to proclaim Providence is back and bury UMD, but there a couple trends that make this series one to watch. First, the Friars, who ranked 55th in the nation in scoring offense last season, scored a combined 11 goals in wins over Boston University and Massachusetts. The Bulldogs, 1-3 after getting swept by Minnesota last weekend, has given up 18 goals in four games including five in each of the last three games—all losses. UMD has scored 15 goals, however, including four from Travis Oleksuk and three from Mike Seidel.

Michigan at Northern Michigan (Friday-Saturday): The Wolverines have scored 24 goals in their first four games, all at Yost against non-league competition that would make Brady Hoke drool. We’ll know more about Michigan in a month; series with Ferris, Western Michigan, and Miami follow this trip to Marquette. The Wildcats, notoriously slow starters, won three of four against Wisconsin and St. Cloud State. Senior forward Justin Florek has four goals in as many games and goalies Reid Ellingston and Jared Coreau have been solid.

Union at RIT (Saturday): In its first three games, RIT played Niagara to a scoreless draw, beat St. Lawrence in overtime (tying the match with nine seconds left in regulation and getting the winner 14 second into OT), and dropped a 3-1 decision at Canisius. Does that mean Saturday’s game will be a shootout? The Dutchmen, fresh of a pair of ties against Western Michigan, start a stretch in which they play five of six away from home. Sophomore goalie Troy Grosenick has been outstanding in his three starts as evidenced by his 1.90 goals against average and .923 save percentage.

Also: Michigan Tech, a.k.a. America’s Team, has a chance to do something it hasn’t done in forever in its series at Bemidji State. A win Friday would be the Huskies’ fifth straight—Tech hasn’t won five in a row since 1990. With a series sweep, the Huskies would have a six-game winning streak for the first time since the 1983-84 season. … Rensselaer travels to Notre Dame in a dress rehearsal for the 2013-14 Hockey East regular season (we kid, we kid). Seriously, the game is the first at the Compton Family Ice Arena, the 5,000-seat venue replacing the quirky Joyce Center. … Most years, North Dakota at Wisconsin would be the highlight of the weekend. This year, it’s a series featuring a Fighting Sioux team that hasn’t hit its stride and a Badger club trying to infuse a bunch of new faces into the lineup.

• INCH Pick ‘Em is back for the 2011-12 season. Log in and make your picks by 4 p.m. Friday.

CAMERON BURT
RIT
Sr. | F | Detroit, Mich.

Cameron Burt

His Statistics: 1 GP, 2-3–5, 6 shots, +3 rating

His Impact: Burt was at the center of the action all night long as RIT played its annual early-season game at the downtown Rochester Blue Cross Arena. After a 0-0 tie in the season-opener against Niagara, this game had plenty of scoring. Burt got the Tigers on the board just three and a half minutes into the first period, but his most important contributions came at the end of the game.

RIT trailed 5-4 in the closing seconds of the third period, but Burt assisted on Adam Hartley’s goal with nine seconds left to send the game to overtime. On the first shift of the extra session, Burt was also in on the assists as Adam Mitchell scored at 14 seconds of overtime. RIT got a 6-5 win in front of an enthused hometown crowd of more than 10,000 at Blue Cross Arena.

The game in downtown Rochester has become a tradition for the Tigers and will continue for at least the next two seasons as part of the school’s Brick City Weekend (Homecoming). The next two opponents are Penn State in 2012 and Michigan in 2013.

His Runners-Up: Kyle Jean, Lake Superior State; Jeremy Langlois, Quinnipiac; Josh Robinson, Michigan Tech; Riley Wetmore, UMass Lowell

Well before Detroit and Warroad, Minn., staked claim to the moniker, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., the home of Lake Superior State University, was the first U.S. city dubbed Hockeytown. Based on the early-season play of the Lakers and their north-of-the-Mackinac-Bridge brethren Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan, perhaps Hockey Peninsula is a more appropriate nickname.

The three teams have a combined 11-1-0 mark, with the lone loss belonging to NMU; the Wildcats dropped a 3-2 decision at Wisconsin on Oct. 8. We’re not sure how long this run will last—Northern Michigan hosts Michigan this weekend, and Michigan Tech faces Denver and Lake State goes to Miami next weekend—but if we know anything about Yooper hockey fans, they’re enjoying the moment.

In our slightly reformatted First Shift for the 2011-12 season, we’ve eschewed a dedicated space for Rankings Outrage and instead will be folding some of those ideas into our other categories. This season has been rife with surprising results in the early going, and that makes ranking teams a little difficult. One thing we can’t seem to reconcile with what we saw in the other national polls is the overall support for a 1-3-0 Minnesota Duluth team, that has played all four of its games on home ice. Sure, it’s no easy task to deal with Notre Dame nor Minnesota, but there wasn’t any room for the Bulldogs in the INCH Power Rankings. In our opinion, they haven’t proved that they belong to be listed among the nation’s top-20 teams.

What Happened?: Over the years, we’ve grown accustomed to New Hampshire’s method of restocking its lineup—freshmen and sophomores mature and assume the role as the team’s offensive weapons as upperclassmen. And while it’s worked in the past, the Wildcats are struggling mightily thus far, outscored by 15-1 margin in their first three games.

“It’s frustrating of course,” senior forward Stevie Moses told Al Pike of Foster’s Daily Democrat following UNH’s 5-1 loss to Boston College Saturday. “We expect to win every night. But I think we’ve gotten better each period … If we can finish a few more pucks and maybe tighten up in the D-zone a little bit I think we’re going to be pretty good moving forward.”

What We’re Watching: Our Friday Four-cast is reserved for later in the week, but there are already some interesting decisions to be made about which games matter most this early in the year. One of those series is taking place in Providence, as the undefeated, upstart Friars host the 1-3-0 defending national champions from Minnesota Duluth. Of course it’s only two games, but it’s another chance to gain some knowledge about two teams with eyebrow-raising results thus far.

What the …?: Whoa, whoa, whoa down everyone. Among several coverage stories forecasting end-of-season NCAA brackets, the publication of rankings of NCAA Tournament criteria, and the buzz in some social media circles there’s already thoughts on the end-of-year national showcase. We’re not even into November, people. Relax and enjoy the season. The NCAA Tournament stuff will sort itself out over the next several months. Forecasting and projecting the bracket now is like declaring the horse with the cleanest break to be the Kentucky Derby winner.

@derekschooley Derek Schooley – 15 Oct
We could have had a CHA reunion weekend as Niagara, Robert Morris, Air Force and Bemidji all in Col Springs. #goodleague #cha

• All Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley needed to do to complete the roundup of ex-College Hockey America members was extended an invitation to Alabama-Huntsville and get the Wayne State band back together. That last one might be difficult.

CCHA PLAYERS STEP INTO BIGGER ROLES

As INCH’s First Shift mentioned this week, two of the CCHA’s top teams were without two of their best players this past weekend, with Reilly Smith and Jon Merrill both suspended by their coaches for violating team rules.

While it’s certainly bad news for those teams, those players and the college game at large, a silver lining of the situation was the play of lesser-known veterans and rookies rising up to the challenge of eating up the minutes and offsetting the lost production – no small task – that Merrill and Smith and typically responsible for.

Michigan opened the year with three wins, beating Niagara last Tuesday and Bentley on Friday and Saturday nights and saw rookie blue-liners Brennan Serville and Mike Chiasson make their debuts and play three productive games.

Serville, expected to be a key player and a contender to be Merrill’s partner this year, finished with an assist, three shots on goal and three blocks in three contests, and Chiasson made his mark with an assist, six blocks and an impressive plus-4 rating.

Down the road in Oxford, Miami opened the year with a split against Bemidji State that saw the Smith-less Redhawks’ freshman class step in to the rescue with goals by Jimmy Mullin and Alex Wideman and some help from a short-handed, game-winning goal from senior forward Matt Tomassoni to give him his first career two-goal game.

“I think that Curtis McKenzie, Matt Tomassoni and many of our younger guys got more ice time,” Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. “Everything happens for a reason, and this gave guys the opportunity to get their feet wet.”

Miami gets Smith back for this weekend’s trip to Colgate, and Blasi is confident that Smith got the message that the suspension was put in place to teach. The Wolverines on the other hand, have several weeks to wait before Merrill will be back in the lineup, as his 12-game suspension will keep him out of the lineup until a Nov. 11-12 series at Miami, making Chiasson and Serville’s continued positive contributions key for Michigan.

VETERAN EAGLES GET SEASON OFF TO FLYING START

Boston College took the first steps of putting last year’s disappointing finish behind them by getting the 2011-12 season off to a quick start last weekend. The Eagles claimed the Ice Breaker title in Grand Forks, N.D., including a decisive 6-2 victory over North Dakota in the title game. The schedule doesn’t get any easier, though, as Boston College opens its home slate on Friday night against third-ranked Denver, then travels to Durham for its Hockey East opener against New Hampshire on Saturday night.

In spite of the quick start, head coach Jerry York and his team have been quick to realize that national championships aren’t won in October.

“We came in on Monday morning and had a changed mindset, looking forward to this weekend’s games,” York said. “We’ve got a mature team, and they know that there’s a lot of the season in front of us. Yes, we played well, but we’ve only finished the first hole of the course – there’s a lot of potential pars and bogeys ahead of us.”

York was particularly impressed with the play of junior netminder Parker Milner, who had 39 saves on 43 shots in the two games in Grand Forks.

“Parker hasn’t had a chance to be the man here, playing behind John Muse the past two years, but his play was probably the biggest highlight we had last weekend,” York said.

GOALTENDING CONCERNS AT DENVER

Denver was the preseason favorite of both the coaches and the media to win the WCHA title. But as their season begins, a combination of injuries and suspensions has recently rendered the goaltending corps for the Pioneers as thin as the air at high altitudes.

We already knew that last year’s top netminder, Sam Brittain, would miss roughly half the season after having knee surgery over the summer. That left things in the hands of junior Adam Murray, who last season put up numbers (6-3-0 record, .879 saves percentage, 3.46 goals-against average) that can generously be called passable.

In last weekend’s Pioneers exhibition win over the USA Hockey Under-18 Team, Murray was pulled early with a lower body injury, giving way to rookie backup Juho Olkinuora (a name that fits perfectly at the school that gave us Sinuhe Wallinheimo).

Murray is healthy enough that he is expected to start both games this weekend as the Pioneers visit top-ranked Boston College and Boston University, but Olkinuora will not be available in the backup role.

According to the Denver Post, Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky revealed this week that Olkinuora will sit out the first three games of the season due to an eligibility issue.

What if Murray goes down in Boston? Well, there’s always Hope. That would be junior walk-on Zack Hope, who has seen plenty of pucks in practice for the Pioneers but has not yet gotten in a real game.

ALMA MATER RETURN FOR APPERT

RPI heads out on the road this weekend to face Ferris State for two games. It’s a homecoming weekend of sorts for Engineers coach Seth Appert, who was a four-year varsity goaltender at Ferris State from 1992-96.

Coincindentally, some former teammates might be around to say hello this weekend. Players from teams ranging between the years 1990 and 2000 will be welcomed back Saturday night in celebration of the second decade of Ferris State’s hockey program.

Appert was a goaltender, and it’s a special fraternity. He’s demonstrated that as much this season in answering any questions regarding RPI’s goaltending situation. Allen York left to sign a pro contract following his junior season that included 18 wins and a 2.17 goals-against average. Any doubts that outsiders had about the Engineer goaltenders have been emphatically discredited by Appert, and his netminders have proven his confidence to be well-founded through the opening weekend.

Freshman Scott Diebold stopped 19 of 20 shots in his first collegiate start but came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline against Minnesota State. The following night, junior Bryce Merriam, the forecasted starter for the Engineers headed into the year, made 31 saves on 32 shots in a 4-1 RPI win against the Mavericks.

ATLANTIC HOCKEY OPENING ACTS

The opening weekend of Atlantic Hockey is going to be remembered for what could have been. Defending champion Air Force held third-period leads on North Dakota and Michigan State and came out on the losing end. American International held a 3-0 first-period lead at Michigan Tech and couldn’t close the deal. Connecticut held a 2-0 first-period lead at Bowling Green and came out on the short end.

The optimist says it’s great to see Atlantic Hockey teams in contention in tough road contests. The pessimist laments the fact those teams did not get it done. The reality is Atlantic Hockey is going to have to put more of these opportunities into the win column if it wants to generate more interest with fans and recruits.

On Friday night, Air Force carried a 3-2 lead into the final seven minutes only to have Brock Nelson score twice in a span of 1 minute, 17 seconds for a 4-3 North Dakota win. On Saturday, the Falcons carried a 2-1 lead into the third period but Michigan State’s Lee Reimer tied the contest at 5:21 and scored the game-winner at 54 seconds of overtime.

Air Force coach Frank Serratore was none too pleased with the outcomes at North Dakota’s Ice Breaker tournament.

“We are way past moral victories,’’ Serratore said after the North Dakota setback. “We had them down, right where we wanted them, and we didn’t get it done. There is nothing to feel good about. We are plenty good enough to lose close to anyone in the country. The bottom line is that we were in a heavyweight fight and we were ahead and lost a decision. We just didn’t finish. Teams either find a way to get it done or they find a way to let it get away. Plain and simple, we didn’t get it done.”

Following the Michigan State loss, Serratore put out a challenge to his team, a message that should resonate throughout the league.

“If you want to aspire to be a champion, you have to find a way to win,” Serratore said.

For the record, Atlantic Hockey members were 0-13-1 against the rest of college hockey.

Denver defenseman David Makowski is part of a strong blueline corps that hopes to make life easier for goalie Adam Murray.

Denver at Boston College (Friday), at Boston University (Saturday):  Rare are the seasons in which Denver eases into its schedule, and this year is no exception. The Pioneers travel three quarters of the way across the country to face two teams fresh off great opening weekends. The Eagles won the Ice Breaker Tournament in impressive fashion, downing Michigan State and host North Dakota, while the Terriers blanked New Hampshire at Agganis Arena Saturday. DU fans will focus on goalie Adam Murray; the inconsistent junior is the Pios’ go-to guy between the pipes with Sam Brittain expected to miss most (if not all) of the season with a serious knee injury.

Western Michigan at Union (Friday-Saturday): By the time these two teams met in mid-December last season at Western Michigan’s Lawson Arena, college hockey fans knew that they were emerging teams in the midst of strong seasons, but probably didn’t foresee both teams making the NCAA Tournament. Western Michigan won both of those games by 3-1 scores. This year, there’s not as big of a surprise factor, but interest is real nonetheless. Both teams are in the top-15 of the national polls and have started impressively. Union started its year with an 8-1 win over Army and Western Michigan swept Alabama-Huntsville 7-1 and 4-0. It’ll be an upgrade in schedule difficulty for both teams and a good measuring stick against quality opposition before conference play begins in the coming weeks.

Maine at North Dakota (Friday-Saturday): Here’s another series rematch from last season. The Black Bears swept the Fighting Sioux in Orono last October in a series most notable because NoDak was pretty much forced to go with goalie Aaron Dell in place of  the struggling  Brad Eidsness. That move turned out all right. Maine, on the other hand, appeared destined for big things; the Sioux sweep propelled the Black Bears to a 6-1-3 start, but a couple middling months in the middle of the season cost them dearly. Here’s hoping the top lines for both teams get a chance to go up against one another–you’d pay to see Brock Nelson, Corban Knight, and Danny Kristo take on Spencer Abbott, Brian Flynn, and Joey Diamond, right?

Minnesota at Minnesota Duluth (Friday-Saturday): The Bulldogs earned a split against visiting Notre Dame which, considering UMD goalies Kenny Reiter and Aaron Crandall combined for 32 saves on 40 shots, is a pretty good result. The Gophers, meanwhile, were impressive against Sacred Heart last weekend, getting goals from 10 different players while outscoring the Pioneers, 15-0. No team in the country last season allowed more goals than Sacred Heart, but still. Freshmen and sophomores comprise two thirds of the Minnesota lineup, but this has the makings of a breakthrough weekend if the young’ns keep scoring and Kent Patterson continues his solid play in goal.

Also: Denver has a tough weekend trip to Boston College and Boston University, but the Eagles aren’t exactly taking it easy, either. BC follows its game with the Pioneers with a Saturday trip to New Hampshire. … Notre Dame hosts Ohio State this weekend in the last hockey games at the Joyce Center, the Fighting Irish’s home rink since 1969. … Colgate enjoyed a nice opening weekend, beating Robert Morris and Nebraska-Omaha to win the Mutual of Omaha Stampede. The Raiders welcome Miami to town for a non-conference series this weekend. … Speaking of early-season tournaments, the Brice Alaska Goal Rush takes place this weekend in Fairbankswith Alaska Anchorage, Mercyhurst, and Nebraska-Omaha joining host Alaska at the Carlson Center. … Rensselaer travels to Ferris State for a non-conference set. RPI coach Seth Appert is a former Bulldog goaltender, graduating from FSU in 1996. His goaltending partner during his junior and senior seasons was ex-Western Michigan coach and current Detroit Red Wings assistant Jeff Blashill.

• INCH Pick ‘Em is back for the 2011-12 season. Log in and make your picks by 4 p.m. Friday.