Gary Wright was very enthused about the prospects for his American International College hockey team headed into the season. Nothing has been diminished there, but now he has to focus efforts on recovery from a freak injury which has sidelined the 26-year veteran coach before the first puck was dropped.
An accident with a garage door at his home left Wright with serious leg injuries. Surgery has repaired the tendons that were ripped off the bones of both quadriceps muscles, and he has been getting around with braces and a walker.
Assistant coach Mike Field has been running the team in Wright’s absence. Field is in his second season at AIC, having served as a graduate assistant coach last season.
Wright, one of the classiest coaches in Atlantic Hockey, was in attendance as the Yellow Jackets recorded their first victory of the season on Friday, a 3-0 home victory over Holy Cross. The next night, AIC earned a 4-4 tie with the Crusaders on the return trip to Worcester.
October awards – Dan Ringwald, a senior defenseman with RIT, was named the Atlantic Hockey player of the month. In seven games, the Oakville, Ont., resident posted three goals and six assists, and has a five-game point streak. He had three assists in a 6-2 win over Connecticut on Oct. 30, and followed that with RIT’s first natural hat trick at the Division I level.
Thomas Tysowsky, a freshman with Holy Cross, was named the goaltender of the month. The Amherst, N.Y., resident posted his first two collegiate victories. His 2.39 goals against ranks second in the league and his .912 save percentage ranks third. He has made five starts.
Adam Pleskach, a freshman from Beausejour, Man., was named the rookie of the month, posting five goals and two assists. Pleskach had a goal in three of four games, scoring twice in a loss to RPI. He had three goals and an assist in the weekend series with RPI and Union.
Getting on the scoresheet – Atlantic Hockey has 21 players averaging at least one point per game through the first month. Senior Dave Jarman of Sacred Heart has nine points through five games to lead the way at 1.8 per game. Junior Andrew Favot of RIT leads the league with 10 points (two goals) through seven games. Sacred Heart senior Nick Johnson leads the league with six goals in five games – last season he only had three tallies in 24 games.
RIT Beats UConn to Win Column – Rochester Institute of Technology snapped a five-game season-opening losing streak by posting a sweep of visiting Connecticut, 6-2 and 7-0.
UConn falls to 0-6-0 overall and 0-3-0 in league play – the Huskies got off to an 0-5-0 start in 2006-07. The Huskies have been outscored 29-8, with 11 opponent tallies on the power play as the Huskies are killing at a .744 rate.
Too bad the points don’t count – Army got off to a 0-4-1 start but rebounded with a solid run through ECAC territory last weekend. The Black Knights forged a 4-4 tie at Colgate on Friday, coming from behind four times. Joey Spracklen made 38 saves. Army posted a pair of third-period goals in a 2-1 win at RPI on Halloween. Jay Clark turned aside 39 shots, including 14 in the third period.
“You could tell early that Jay was on top of his game,” said Army coach Brian Riley. “Obviously, he was our most valuable player. He made some key saves. We made it hard on ourselves by taking penalties. Your goalie has to be your best penalty killer and he was tonight.”
It was Army’s first win over an ECAC Hockey school since beating Colgate 3-2 on Oct. 30, 2004.
Remember when? – Army and Colgate met for the first time in 1917, a 5-2 Colgate victory. The series with RPI goes back even longer, to 1906 when Army used to play on a makeshift frozen pond at West Point.
Back on top – Air Force sits atop Atlantic Hockey with a 3-1 record following an 0-4 non-conference start. A sweep of visiting RIT was followed with a split at Canisius – the Falcons dropped the opener 3-1 and bounced back with a 4-1 win on Sunday.
Nearly half (10) of the Falcons’ 21 goals have come on the power play: Jeff Hajner has three with Jacques Lamoureux and Matt Fairchild notching a pair apiece. Senior Andrew Volkening has a 2.22 goals against and .933 save percentage in league play, far more representative of his play than the 5.91 and .801 he posted in the opening four setbacks.
Time to man up – Mercyhurst has bounced back from an 0-4-0 start with a 2-1-1 effort in league play. The Lakers’ special teams, however, are still lagging behind. Mercyhurst is 3-for-49 (.061) on the power play and just 35-for-48 (.729) on the penalty kill. Last season the Lakers posted a .215 percentage on the power play and .855 on the kill.
Nice newcomers – Bentley’s Dan Koudys has produced three goals and four assists in his first five games with the Falcons. The Air Force tandem of John Kruse and Kyle De Laurell each have six points. AIC rookie Ben Meisner leads the league in goals against (1.51) and save percentage (.955).