While the win column has yet to show it, head coach Dennis Williams knows that his Bowling Green team is headed in the right direction. It would be easy to get down when your team sits at 0-3-1 with a shootout win in conference play and 0-7-1 overall, but Williams is pleased to see his freshman-laden squad making strides in practice and adjusting to the rigors of the intercollegiate game.

“Right now, I’ve been really happy with the way we’re working hard, competing and not giving up on each other,” Williams said. “Our record isn’t where we want it to be, we’re taking our lumps now, but I would be more worried if we weren’t working together.”

Leading the way amongst the Falcons’ freshman class is Jordan Samuels-Thomas, an Atlanta Thrashers draft pick that was at the center of the shootout controversy two weeks ago tonight. Samuels-Thomas leads the team with three goals and six points, and he provides a dynamic presence in the offensive zone that has proven effective with a variety of linemates.

It may be easy for freshmen like Samuels-Thomas, fellow forward Nathan Pageau and goaltender Andrew Hammond to be distracted from the team’s early-season struggles by their ongoing adjustment period, it has the potential to be extremely tough on veteran players who suffered through a 12th-place finish last year and the question marks surrounding the future of Bowling Green’s program.

Fortunately for Williams, his team’s veteran leadership is still focused on making the most of this year and passing on their experience to their younger teammates.

“I think our attitude is very good,” Williams said. “We have great captains in Kyle Page (captain), Tommy Dee and David Solway (alternates) . Coaches can only do so much tactically to help the team, it come down to the seniors and leaders. To have those guys coming to practice ready to compete every single day, it’s fantastic for a coach, it’s great to have these guys step up in practice.”

Heading into this weekend’s home series against Alaska, Williams has drilled his players on maintaining possession of the puck, in the neutral zone and forcing Alaska’s improved offense to work for goals.

“The key for us is how we can execute everything that we want to do,” Williams said. “If they want to score, I want to make sure that they’re coming the full 200-feet down the ice, we can’t afford to turn the puck over in the neutral zone.”

Alaska comes into the game ranked ninth in the INCH power rankings, and it could be an uphill battle for the Falcons all weekend long. But with the Nanooks leaving their home state for the first time this year, Bowling Green will be gunning for their first three point performance of the year.

Sitting just three points away from ninth place and seeing the teams immediately above them in the CCHA standings facing tough road matchups this weekend, a victory or two over the Nanooks would be just the medicine this team needs to take the next step in its development.

Bringing in a large group of new players yields uncertainty in the early going, but can also yield tremendous opportunity. The Quinnipiac Bobcats lost two of the nation’s top scorers last season in Bryan Leitch and David Marshall and have as many as eight freshmen in the lineup on a given night. Those factors have contributed to a Bobcat team that has taken on a new attitude and personality, resulting in a 6-1-0 record through seven games.

New attitudes at Quinnipiac have been helped by veteran players like Brandon Wong doing their part.

“Our skill level might not be as high. When you lose guys like those guys, we might have relied on them to make all of the big plays at the big times. This year we realized it doesn’t need to be just one or two guys, but everyone on the ice is making little plays like making a good back check or blocking a shot,” senior forward Mike Atkinson said. “We’ve found ourselves learning a different style game. All of us have relied on that. It’s cool to find different ways to win.”

Atkinson is the eldest statesman on this Quinnipiac team. He’s been on campus four full years after spending a redshirt season in 2005-06 following a transfer from Vermont. He scored three straight goals in Quinnipiac’s 4-2 win over Clarkson on Friday. Atkinson’s short-handed goal in the second period tied the game 2-2 and he added another shorty in the third to put Quinnipiac ahead with 7:39 left to play. His empty-netter completed a hat trick. With four goals already this season, Atkinson matched his goal total from all of last year, in which he appeared in 36 games.

“He’s been excellent. He made a decision last spring that he was going to make his final year count. He’s been great on and off the ice. He’s become a leader and has been outstanding all seven games,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said.

Atkinson and Pecknold both referred to the Bobcats being committed to following systems and doing the right things in the defensive end of the rink. They blocked 28 shots in a 5-2 win over St. Lawrence last weekend.

“There’s no question that bringing in 13 freshmen brings in a ton of energy and helps mold your culture in a different way,” coach Rand Pecknold said. “The returning players have been great. I think their energy level has been great and they’re buying in to what we’re trying to do.”

With the exception of Quinnipiac’s only loss of the season, an 8-5 defeat by Robert Morris, the Bobcats have allowed two goals or fewer in their other six games, all wins. That doesn’t mean they’re sitting back and playing a completely defensive style. Veterans like Brandon Wong (4-7-11), Eric Lampe (6-4-10) and Atkinson (4-2-6) have helped the team average better than four goals per game.

UPS AND DOWNS AT HARVARD

Doug Rogers

Harvard has a young and talented team that has shown an ability to score goals in bunches … and allow goals in bunches. It’s an early-season trend, but a trend nonetheless. The Crimson scored five straight goals in a season-opening win at Dartmouth and built a three-goal lead at Colgate. They led Cornell 3-1 late in the second period. But Colgate scored four third-period goals to win and Cornell rattled off five straight goals the following night.

“It’s great to see that we have explosive offense. I don’t think any team would complain about that, so it’s a real positive,” senior Doug Rogers said. “I think we have to get used to playing with the lead. The game changes when you have the lead, and I think we have to tighten up, start playing a little smarter and I think that comes with experience.”

The Crimson have a total of 12 freshmen and sophomores in its lineup most nights.

“We are young, but that’s not an excuse. There are areas where we need to get better. We need to be able to finish games, we need to be able to play a complete game, and we’ve got to be more comfortable in our own zone,” Harvard coach Ted Donato said.

THREE MORE THINGS WORTH KNOWING

• Quinnipiac isn’t the only team off to a strong start with a lineup laced with new faces. St. Lawrence is 5-3-1 on the year and picked up a 5-2 win at Princeton last weekend. Freshman Kyle Flanagan leads the Saints with 11 points and sophomore defenseman Peter Child has seven points. Child was on the St. Lawrence roster as a freshman, but didn’t crack the lineup on a veteran-laden defense corps.

• Colgate’s David McIntyre (finally) scored his first goal of the season in the Raiders’ eighth game of the year. His power-play marker in the first minute of the third period of last Friday’s win over Harvard ignited a four-goal outburst and Colgate rallied from a three-goal deficit to win 5-4. McIntyre added his second of the year in Saturday’s win over Dartmouth. McIntyre has contributed in other ways. He has a team-high nine assists and the Colgate team is averaging 3.11 goals per game through nine contests after averaging 2.41 goals per game last season.

• The Good: Highly-touted RPI rookies Brandon Pirri (6-4-10) and Jerry D’Amigo (3-6-9) are off to great starts for RPI in helping the Engineers to a 6-3-1 start through 10 games … The Bad: Dartmouth has been outscored 13-6 in its three games this year … The Ugly: Clarkson is 0-6-0 in six road games, and has allowed four goals or more in all six of them.

There’s a good chance that for the second consecutive time that Corey Tropp pulls on his green and white sweater at Yost Ice Arena, the Michigan State junior will be at the center of the game story. This time around, however, Tropp should be making headlines for the right reasons as he continues his remarkable journey to being one of college hockey’s most prolific scorers and a major reason that the Spartans have returned to national prominence.

While the fans at Yost won’t let Tropp forget his role in last January’s on-ice incident that left him suspended for the remainder of last season, the junior, who was unavailable for interviews this week, has left the incident behind him, admitting to the Lansing State Journal earlier this year that he made a mistake and making it known that he had moved on.

According to assistant coach Tom Newton, Tropp spent a great deal of time during the offseason focusing on building up the strength he needed to augment the skill set that made him a third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres. The work has paid off, with Tropp scoring a nation’s-best eight goals in Michigan State’s first 10 games, including five on the power play and one short-handed marker. The attention that Tropp’s scoring ability has commanded should also help him be prepared for being public enemy number one amongst Michigan fans and priority number one for the Wolverines’ defense.

“Corey is the leading scorer in the country, so he’s a marked man in any rink that we play in,” Newton said. “He’s going to go out and do his job, and focus on what he needs to do to help us win.”

Contributing to Tropp’s early-season success have been his linemates Nick Sucharski and Derek Grant, with whom Tropp has developed an excellent chemistry. Sucharski, the Spartans’ captain, has bounced back nicely from an early season-ending shoulder injury last year with six points, and Grant, a freshman from Abbotsford, B.C., was the national rookie of the month for October and has 12 points in 10 appearances.

When meeting with local media earlier this week, Grant gave a great deal of credit to Tropp for his quick transition to the college game, citing a skating ability that was likely boosted by Tropp’s offseason dedication.

“He’s incredible with the puck,” Grant said of Tropp. “If you get him the puck and you can find open ice, he’ll find you there. He can dance around defensemen like nobody I’ve ever seen. I just try to get him the puck as much as possible, and Sucharski and I just try to find open ice and help him out as much as we can. He has the ability to walk around two d-men and put the puck in himself so that makes our jobs a lot easier.”

Newton gives the trio credit for their ability to score the highlight-reel goals that Grant’s descriptions suggest, but he is also happy to see the ugly goals that count just the same on the scoreboard. Grant noted that this ability to get to the net has been a key in making Michigan State’s power play the best in the CCHA and one of the top-10 units in the nation.

“Coach (Rick Comley) just has us shooting a lot,” Grant said. “He doesn’t want us making 12 passes and getting the perfect shot. I think we’re just getting pucks to the net, and we’ve scored a few goals off of rebounds and deflections, so I think that’s our strength right now, is getting the puck through from our points and getting a couple of good passes and then getting our shot off.”

A few more trips to the net resulting in goals for the Tropp-Grant-Sucharski trio would add an interesting new element to this weekend’s contest, raising the blood pressure of fans who haven’t left last year’s incident behind. But high tension is nothing new to what is one of college hockey’s most intense rivalries year-in and year-out.

Playing with Tropp and seeing so much success should bring a hailstorm of insults on Grant on Friday, but the rookie is ready to take it in stride.

“I think for me personally it’s kind of amusing in a way,” Grant said. “I think also it shows that they’re worried about you in some way or another. I think it just makes everyone play better … I know the rivalry, and just being here at Michigan State, you just see the hatred between the two schools and hear about it. I’m looking forward to it and experiencing something like this.”

The Cinderella of last season’s Frozen Four - Bemidji State - finds itself as one of just two undefeated Division I programs. Cornell is the other, with five fewer games played. With their torrid start and the nation’s longest current winning streak, the Beavers find themselves ranked in the top 10 in the INCH Power Rankings and in other polls for the first time in the program’s history.

The Beavers have swept two-game series against Air Force and Robert Morris at home, earned a win and a tie at Northern Michigan and swept Alabama-Huntsville on the road.

After the Jordan George-Matt Read-Ian Lowe line accounted for all the offense and Dan Bakala stopped 23 shots for his first career shutout in the series-opener against RMU, it was the fourth line that came alive in the second tilt. Emil Billberg-Aaron McLeod-Darcy Findlay combined for two goals, three assists and a +7 as BSU completed the conference sweep over Robert Morris.

“We are very happy with this win because we put more of 60 minutes together rather than last night where we had just 30 good minutes,” Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore said to the Bemidji Pioneer after the second game. “We were fortunate enough to get the sweep and I’m very proud of the energy level we had in the third period. “I thought our fourth line played really well tonight and they all had a part in the three goals we had in the third period,” Serratore said. “It’s nice to have that balance and the production was nice tonight.”

Next it’s future conference rival Minnesota on the wider sheet this weekend for a Saturday-Sunday series. The last time the two teams collided was 2003-04 during the Beavers first 20-win season as a Division I program. The Golden Gophers swept the series.

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

· Bemidji State sophomore defenseman Tyler Jundt is no longer listed on the Beavers roster after reporting leaving the team. He appeared two games this season without a point after seeing action in 20 games during his freshman campaign.

· Alabama-Huntsville wraps up their longest homestand in three seasons when they host UMass-Lowell this weekend. But Chargers fans should take a picture with a 10-game road marathon covering 4,608 miles between next weekend and Jan. 29 when they return to the Von Braun Center.

· Robert Morris managed just one goal over the two conference games this season and that was scored by a defenseman. They head into a home-and-home with Niagara looking to take advantage of spotty Purple Eagles goaltending. Starter Adam Avramenko was pulled in the second period in the home loss to UMass Sunday. “Two very, very bad goals,” said Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder as to the decision to switch goalies. “This team is fragile enough…we couldn’t wait to see if he would snap out of it. It’s undue stress on Greg (Assistant Coach Gardner) and myself, but we’ll sort it out and who deserves it will get the call (Friday).” Niagara won the regular season series last year 4-0-2, but the Colonials rebounded with a 2-1 decision in the CHA semi-finals.

· UAH and Niagara hold the bottom two spots in the nation in power play percentage. Combined, they are 3-for-74 for the season and 0-for their last 27 chances.

Pretend, for just a second, that you haven’t watched any college hockey in the past few years, then you hear that Minnesota is hosting Bemidji State this weekend.

You’re told that one team won its conference and went to the Frozen Four last season, and is undefeated and nationally ranked this season. The other team, you’re told, missed the NCAA tournament last year, is under .500, is still searching for an identity and has a thin bench due to a combination of injuries and an unexpected departure.

Aaron Ness isn't worried about the state of the Gophers' defense corps.

If you knew nothing about the past few college hockey seasons, which description, would you think, describes the Beavers, and which describes the Golden Gophers?

Thankfully for Gopher fans, the players have been watching college hockey for the past few years, and know what they’re facing when the Beavers come to Mariucci.

“I think we’re a little bit of an underdog looking at the numbers and where they were last year,” said Minnesota captain Tony Lucia. “That’s what we need to instill in our minds that we need to play hard and play aggressive, because on paper they’re better than us. We need to go out and prove ourselves.”

After an 0-3-1 start, the Gophers have won three of their last four, so this should be a time of optimism for the team, if it weren’t so hard to keep track of who is still on the team, and in uniform. The trouble started in their Oct. 30 win over Alaska Anchorage, when freshman defenseman Nick Leddy (the Minnesota Wild’s first-round draft pick last summer) suffered a broken jaw and will be out for a few weeks.

In the following Tuesday’s practice there was a fluke collision between forward Jay Barriball and defenseman Sam Lofquist. It would be the last time they’d be on the rink together, as Barriball suffered a season-ending knee injury in the mishap (he had surgery this week) and later it was formally announced that Lofquist has left school at Minnesota and has joined the OHL’s Guelph Storm.

Added to the strangeness were the bad allergic reaction to some trail mix that caused Mike Hoeffel to miss last Friday’s 4-2 loss at Wisconsin, and the pre-emptive press release the school issued on Wednesday to refute rumors that Jordan Schroeder was going to leave the team at mid-season, or sooner, and sign with the Vancouver Canucks (who plucked him in the first round last summer).

Down to just a half-dozen healthy defensemen, the Gophers still express optimism that the worst is in the past, and there is hope for the near future.

“We’ll be fine,” said sophomore defenseman Aaron Ness. “You play with six D during the game anyway. We’ve got a solid core. We’re playing pretty well defensively and I think we’ll continue that.”

And defense may be the rule of the day this weekend with stingy Bemidji State coming to visit.

“They’re an older team and a veteran team, and they’re used to winning this year,” said Gopher coach Don Lucia. “They’re going to defend, wait for us to make mistakes and try to capitalize on those mistakes. They’ve only given up more than one goal in two of their games this year, so we’re going to have to do better than that if we expect to win.”

The elder Lucia is known as an expert on the ways of the computer system that determines who will get into the 16-team NCAA field and who will not. He seemed to already have an eye trained on that Sunday morning in March when he noted that playing a non-conference series versus an undefeated and nationally-ranked opponent like the Beavers is an opportunity for his team to score some national attention of its own.

It’s a potentially dangerous time in Minneapolis as the Gophers search for identity and adjust to new line combinations and defensive pairings out of necessity. One notion upon which both the coach and captain seem to be concentrating is ensuring that Minnesota does not misunderstand what it will face when the Beavers arrive.

“You’ve got to give them a lot of respect, to be in the Frozen Four last year and to start off this year undefeated, that’s no fluke,” said Tony Lucia. “They’re the real deal, so we’re taking them very seriously.”

The elder Lucia is quick to remind visitors that college is about learning and opportunity, and for better or worse, there are opportunities to learn in his lineup right now.

“We touched on the fact that it’s a team game, not an individual game and somebody’s going to get the chance to step in,” said coach Lucia. “The guys did a good job of that on Saturday night (a 5-2 win at Wisconsin) and hopefully that’s a good sign. Now we’ve won three out of four and hopefully we can continue to build on that.”

Everyone loves a good story, and this week’s college hockey slate is full of ‘em. Whether its the rematch of conference finalists, a historic rivalry that renews with the specter of an ugly on-ice incident from last season hanging over it, or a rematch featuring two teams that have gone in the opposite direction since their first meeting a month ago, we’ve got it all for you.

Drew Palmisano and his Michigan State teammates were winless in five games against Michigan a year ago.

Michigan vs. Michigan State (at Ann Arbor Friday, at East Lansing Saturday): Any more storylines for this series and we’re going to need J.J. Abrams to sort it all out. Beyond the obvious rivalry—the most heated in the CCHA and among the three or four best in college hockey—there’s Spartan forward Corey Tropp, the country’s leading scorer, returning to a building where last January he used his stick in a confrontation with Steve Kampfer as the Michigan defenseman was flat on the Yost Arena ice surface. Then there’s MSU seeking a measure of redemption; the Spartans dropped all five games to the Wolverines last season, losing by an average score of 5-2.

Coach Red Berenson read his team the riot act after getting swept by Miami in Ann Arbor last weekend, calling them “spoiled brats” after they piled up a number of undisciplined penalties in third period of Saturday’s series finale. Will they be able to keep their emotions in check? Conversely, how will the young Spartans deal with the intensity of this series? Of the 18 skaters Rick Comley had in the lineup for last Saturday’s game with Nebraska-Omaha, half were freshmen.

Bemidji State at Minnesota (Sat.-Sun.): Lost in the clamor of swirling rumors regarding Jordan Schroeder’s future, Jay Barriball’s season-ending injury, and Sam Lofquist’s defection to the OHL is this: The Gophers have played pretty good hockey the last two weekends, scoring 16 goals and allowing just eight in winning three of four against Alaska Anchorage and Wisconsin. Goaltender Alex Kangas has been sterling all along, and he’s finally getting some offensive support. He’ll need it against a Bemidji State team that ranks tied for seventh in the nation in scoring offense (3.75 goals per game). After scoring 40 points in 37 games last season, Beaver junior forward Matt Read has seven goals and 14 points in eight games. By the way, BSU also leads the country in scoring defense, allowing an average of just 1.25 goals per game.

Cornell at Yale (Friday): It’s a rematch of last year’s ECAC Hockey championship game when Yale hosts Cornell in New Haven. The Big Red appear to be the early favorites atop ECACH, but will be playing away from Lynah Rink for the first time this season. Yale won all three meetings against the Big Red last year and comes in after earning just one point on the road in a loss at RPI and a tie against Union to start its title defense. The third period has been the best for both teams. Through three games this year, Cornell has outscored its opponents 7-1 in the final 20 minutes and Yale has a 6-2 advantage over its opponents in the third period.

Vermont at Boston College (Sat.-Sun.): It doesn’t seem like a terrific series on paper given that the Catamounts are a .500 team while the Eagles enter the weekend with a 3-2-1 mark. These two clubs met in Burlington on Oct. 18-Vermont scored a 4-1 victory—but their fortunes have since diverged. UVM is 1-2-1 in four games since beating BC; the Eagles, meantime, are 3-1-1 since the loss at the Gut. Both are currently tied for third in Hockey East and, yeah, it’s early in the year, but a sweep either way would make the possibility of a top-four finish in the league standings that much more remote for the losing side.

Also: Two of ECAC Hockey’s early-season surprises meet Saturday when Rensselaer faces St. Lawrence … St. Cloud State is at North Dakota. The Huskies’ Garrett Roe won’t play Friday; he’s serving a one-game team-issued suspension … Can Merrimack continue its impressive start in its series with Boston University?

TV schedule: Friday—Harvard at Quinnipiac, NESN, 7:30 p.m. ET; Michigan State at Michigan, FSN Detroit, 7:30 p.m. ET; Ferris State at Miami, NHL Network, 7:30 p.m. ET; Alaska Anchorage at Wisconsin, FSN North Wisconsin, 8 p.m. ET; St. Cloud State at North Dakota, Fox College Sports, 8:30 p.m. ET. Saturday—Bemidji State at Minnesota, FSN North, 8:30 p.m. ET. Sunday—Bemidji State at Minnesota, FSN North, 7 p.m. ET.

There’s a reason why Canadians stick with hockey.

“The Canadian guys are not very good softball players,” said UMass junior forward James Marcou, who is no Tom Emanski but can use his New York roots to his advantage in the tactics of international scouting.

UMass forward James Marcou enters this weekend's series with New Hampshire tied for the Hockey East lead in scoring.

Either way, Marcou and the rest of the Minutemen have come to that conclusion this year because they’re spending much more time together when they’re away from the ice. Their familiarity has paid instant dividends as UMass is off to a 6-1-0 start (3-1-0 in Hockey East) and Marcou said there’s simply a better feel about the team in the locker room this year.

“We have a good bond going on with the team,” said Marcou, who leads Hockey East with an average of 1.86 points per game. “I don’t want to say in past years, [but] there’s been some cliques. But this year we’ve seemed to come together, and we’ve really overcame that. I think that’s a big reason why we’re doing so well.

“The older guys have seen what the separation can do to the team and we don’t want to let that happen.”

Marcou credits senior co-captains Brett Watson and Justin Braun for the proactive approach in team unity. The softball games started at the end of last year and have continued through this season, but the Minutemen are doing plenty of things away from the ice, whether it’s bowling or a team dinner.

The idea, obviously, is to bring everyone as close together as possible. Therefore, rather than letting seniors hang out with seniors on team buses or off-ice functions, the players are sort of self-policing their groups, forcing guys who don’t know each other as well to spend more time together during these activities.

“We try to include everyone,” said Marcou, who has a conference-best 10 assists and is tied for the Hockey East lead with 13 points. “After practice, we’ll have get-togethers, team bonding activities.

“You get to know everyone. I would say, just the way you can tell some of the guys are coming together, that you had no idea they had that in them or you learn something new about someone. Personally, off the ice, I think that’s a big part of our success this year.”

At one point, sophomore defenseman Matt Irwin dropped a few jaws when he told everyone it takes him 20 hours to get back home to British Columbia, and his story captivated the room. In the past—or maybe even in other locker rooms—Irwin’s tale could have taken up a few minutes of everyone’s time and then been forgotten. Now, his teammates are more understanding of his situation, which severely limits how often he can get home.

“He gets to go home once a year for five days and guys really notice that,” Marcou said. “He just tells the story, and we were all listening. That really opens a lot of guys’ eyes.”

There are no stat lines for bonding moments but at the very least, the Minutemen can hope this pays off in their nightly consistency, which has plagued them throughout the years.

Last season, for instance, UMass followed up a five-game unbeaten streak—highlighted by a victory against North Dakota—with a 3-1 loss to Merrimack. In the next game, the Minutemen knocked off Boston University, 5-1. UMass then proceeded to get shut out in two consecutive games before beating Boston College, 4-3, in overtime.

Take nearly any team in the country and it’s possible to find a couple of inconsistent stretches, but they typically relate to chemistry and fortitude. UMass has proven it can take down national powers, but it hasn’t always picked off the bottom feeders with enough regularity. Of course, that’s typically the difference between programs such as Boston University and Boston College and then those in the next tier.

“In recent years,” Marcou said, “we’ve had some big games and then fall off after the big game.”

This year, the goals have heightened in Amherst. There’s definitely some talent in the locker room headlined by Marcou, Braun, and goalie Paul Dainton. The chemistry just reinforces their beliefs.

“We definitely saw that we were one goal away from going to the semifinals in Hockey East,” Marcou said of last year’s team, which fell in overtime of Game 3 of a quarterfinal series against Northeastern. “I think that brought us together to say, ‘Hey, we can do this. We’re not that far away.’ That’s definitely a goal this year to get home ice and win Hockey East. I think we finally have come to that goal with all 28 guys that we’ve got in there.”

CODY REICHARD
Miami
So. | G | Celina, Ohio

His Statistics: 2-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .959 save pct. in sweep at Michigan

His Impact: Miami made a strong statement in winning two games convincingly against CCHA rival and top-five ranked Michigan at Yost Ice Arena over the weekend. Reichard, the sophomore goalie who shared time with classmate Connor Knapp as a freshman, has emerged as Miami’s no. 1 in net and played very well in allowing just one goal each night against the Wolverines.

Reichard made 27 saves in Friday’s 3-1 win and stopped 20 shots in a 5-1 RedHawks victory Saturday. He and the Miami defense held the Wolverines to just one power-play goal in 14 opportunities on the weekend. Reichard and the RedHawks became the first team to sweep a weekend series at Yost since the early part of the 2001-02 season.

His Runners-Up: Brad Hunt, Bemidji State; Jeff Larson, Connecticut; Chase Polacek, Rensselaer; Carl Sneep, Boston College; Billy Sweatt, Colorado College

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

Former Michigan State standout Craig Simpson was the second overall pick in the 1985 NHL Draft and enjoyed a 10-year career with Pittsburgh, Edmonton, and Buffalo. He’s now the lead analyst for Hockey Night in Canda on the Canadian Broadcasting Company and, based on his performance last night, could be the winner of the CBC’s first Battle of the Blades.

Blades, a reality television series pairing ex-NHLers with figure skaters for a competition best described as Dancing With the Stars on ice. On Sunday, Simpson donned a blue crushed velvet suit and thick glasses as he and his partner, 2002 Olympic figure skating pairs gold medalist Jamie Sale, skated to Quincy Jones’ “Soul Bossa Nova”, better known as the theme from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Corny for sure, but Simpson’s bringing it.

The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs entered last weekend’s series at Colorado College as the nation’s second-most penalized team, and after racking up 51 PIMs in Saturday’s 6-2 loss they became the nation’s most penalized team. Among the infractions was a double-minor for roughing and instigating and a game misconduct assessed to Chad Huttel of the Bulldogs, who reportedly left the bench to start an altercation. These penalties came just 34 seconds after UMD closed to within two goals. Minnesota Duluth’s Drew Akins was called for a charging major and Dylan Olsen got a 10-minute misconduct, all with 2:18 remaining when CC scored its sixth goal..

“I’m embarrassed. We played like a bunch of spoiled brats. When you’re getting beat, you just keep working hard for the team. You don’t take it out on the other team and take stupid penalties that are going to hurt your team even further.” — Michigan coach Red Berenson following his team’s 5-1 loss to Miami Saturday.

The Wolverines racked up 51 penalty minutes in the third period, including a five-minute major and game misconduct to defenseman Tristin Llewellyn for checking from behind and misconducts to defenseman Chad Langlais and forward Kevin Lynch.

In eight years of compiling the INCH Power Rankings, the editors of this site can’t recall a team falling from the rankings in such dramatic fashion as Boston University has over the last two weeks. The Terriers were fourth in the Power Rankings of Oct. 25. We dropped them six spots last week, and completely from the Power Rankings this week. Why? Because they’re 2-5-0 and in last place in Hockey East. We don’t expect the Terriers to languish with that type of record over the long haul, but we can’t justifiably give them any recognition as one of the 20 best teams as they currently stand. That obviously wasn’t the case with many of the 50 voters in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, as BU was ranked 17th and received 235 total points on ballots. 

CoachTimArmy a disjointed game yesterday … after a day off today we’ll get back at it tomorrow … we’ll regroup and sort some areas of our game out.

The Providence coach, who has his team off to a respectable 5-3-0 start including wins at Massachusetts and Notre Dame, tweeted this message folloing the Friars’ 3-0 loss to Vermont Sunday. And while Army’s focus is obviously on hockey, he certainly hasn’t turned a blind eye to the rest of the world. The tweet that appeared just moments after the one above read, “and by the way … 27 and counting … go yanks!”

No goals opening night, six the next game. Three goals in 12 minutes, then none for four and one-half periods before scoring two in four minutes.

Hobey finalist Louie Caporusso hopes his first goal sparks a streak entering a big series with Miami.

Needless to say, Michigan’s offense, while productive, hadn’t been the archetype of consistency over the team’s first four games against both Alaska schools, Niagara and Boston University. During last wekeend’s sweep versus Lake Superior, however, the Wolverines finally spread the wealth throughout both games, scoring in five of the six periods to win 5-1 and 6-3 contests.

One key to Michigan’s offensive improvements was the most classic of hockey tactics — attacking the opponent’s net.

“We were going to the net more,” Michigan junior Louie Caporusso said. “We were capitalizing on rebounds and getting the ugly goals, and that’s where the majority of goals come from.”

Caporusso, who led the team with 24 goals last year, finally found the back of the net in Friday’s victory after failing to score in the team’s first four contests. The junior was frustrated to miss on what he described as 20 chances to score in the early stages of the season, but made an effort to keep that frustration from affecting his game. Seeing big league superstars like Sidney Crosby, who suffered through a four-game drought earlier this year before scoring five goals in three games, struggle through stretches and rebound helped Caporusso realize that patience is the key.

“I think it’s as stressful as you make it on yourself,” Caporusso said. “The key is just to not get down on yourself, it was only four games and the best players in the world go through slumps.”

Heading into this weekend’s pivotal – well, as pivotal as an early season series can be – matchup with Miami, Caporusso would like to build a scoring streak of his own, but he knows that the defensive zone is where Michigan needs to separate themselves from the RedHawks.

“It’s going to take a lot of focus on the defensive zone,” Caporusso said. “If (Miami) gets the puck in the zone, they can get a cycle going and make it hell for you in your own zone.”

Louie Caporusso and Michigan seek to maintain their Yost Ice Arena dominance over top-ranked Miami.

Miami at Michigan (Fri.-Sat.): Interesting statistic heading into this weekend’s series between the top-ranked RedHawks and the fourth-rated Wolverines—Michigan has scored 12 first-period goals this season, more than any other team in the CCHA, while Miami has three first-period scores, tied for the second fewest in the conference. Why, you ask, does that matter? After all, the RedHawks have scored a CCHA-best 17 second-period goals and the Wolverines have three in the second, the second-fewest total in the league.

It matters because Miami’s record at Yost Ice Arena is just slightly better than Wile E. Coyote’s against the Roadrunner. In 47 games in Ann Arbor, the RedHawks have won just thrice and tied once. Coach Enrico Blasi’s team is a resilient bunch, but history indicates that if Michigan gets ahead of Miami at Yost, they stay there. Minutia? Perhaps, but these teams are so evenly matched that it’s likely the littled of advantages will play a key role in the outcome.

These games, the only regular-season meetings between the two teams, mark the start of a difficult run for the Wolverines. In addition to Miami, Red Berenson’s club faces Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Notre Dame over the next six weeks.

Harvard at Cornell (Sat.): Last week’s win at Dartmouth was a big one for Harvard because it showed the 2009-10 Crimson that they could achieve some things that last year’s group did not. First, it was a road win, and Harvard was 0-11-5 away from the Bright Hockey Center last year. Second, the victory included a run of five straight goals in the second and third periods scored by four different players. Harvard averaged just 2.19 goals per game last year.

For Cornell’s fans and alumni, this is the most important game on the Big Red’s schedule every year. For this year’s Big Red team, it might not be. At a public speaking engagement a local sports booster club luncheon earlier this week, Cornell coach Mike Schafer gave a brief synopsis of his team and its upcoming season. Not once did he mention this week’s game against Harvard, nor did he mention defending league champion Yale, nor NCAA Tournament team and nationally-ranked Princeton. He talked about big non-conference games against Boston University, North Dakota, Colorado College and New Hampshire. Saturday’s game against Harvard will get the attention of the fans, but you get the sense that Cornell has bigger fish to fry, pun intended.

Boston College at New Hampshire (Fri.): In most years, this is a clash of top-10 programs. This year, however, both teams have struggled. The Wildcats are coming off a weekend in which they were outscored 10-2 by Wisconsin and the Eagles’ last contest was a 5-3 loss at Merrimack—a game the Warriors led 5-1 early in the third period. The goalies, UNH’s Brian Foster and BC’s John Muse, are the bottom two in Hockey East in goals against average and save percentage. Mind you, no one is poised to run away with the league regular-season title at the moment. But a win here could be the difference between snapping out of the early-season funk and continuing in a downward spiral.

Minnesota at Wisconsin (Fri.-Sat.): It’s been a tough year for Minnesota, which is something you really don’t want to hear about your team the first week in November. The latest setback involves injuries to freshman defenseman Nick Leddy (out six weeks with a broken jaw) and senior forward Jay Barriball (gone for the year with a knee injury). Now the Gophers have to figure out a way to slow down a Badger offense humming on all cylinders—Wisconsin averages 3.50 goals per game, which is tied for second best in the WCHA. Given Minnesota’s scoring woes, goaltender Alex Kangas (second in the league with a .939 save percentage) might have to be close to perfect against the Badgers, who are outshooting foes by an average of 16.2 shots per game.

Also: Notre Dame heads to Alaska to try and solve Nanook goalie Scott Greenham … UMass Lowell travels to Vermont Friday, then hosts New Hampshire Sunday … Adam Murray is the go-to guy in goal for Denver in place of Marc Cheverie. The Pioneers are at Alaska Anchorage …  Which will produce the higher score: Minnesota Duluth-Colorado College or Alabama-LSU?

TV schedule: Friday—Boston College at New Hampshire, NESN, 7 p.m. ET; Minnesota at Wisconsin, FSN North, 8 p.m. ET. Saturday—Minnesota at Wisconsin, FSN North, 8 p.m. ET. Sunday—New Hampshire at UMass Lowell, ESPNU, 5 p.m. ET.