DAN DeSALVO
Bowling Green
Fr. | F | Rolling Meadows, Ill.

His Statistics: 3 GP, GWG, 5 G, 2 A, 7 points, +6 rating

His Impact: Impact? That’s an understatement. Here’s a freshman for Bowling Green that racked up five goals on the weekend, including a hat-trick and overtime game-winning goal in Sunday’s decisive game three as the Falcons upset CCHA top-seed Ferris State in a quarterfinal playoff series. The Falcons have a chance to win the Mason Cup this weekend in Detroit as they’ve advanced to the CCHA Championship weekend despite finishing in last place.

Was it unexpected? That depends on what part of the season you consider. DeSalvo had just four goals during the regular season over 27 games played and was out of the lineup for BG’s last five regular-season games. He returned in a first-round series against Northern Michigan and scored five goals in that series, before replicating that feat against Ferris State. DeSalvo’s 10 goals in the playoffs are a CCHA tournament record and he’s building the kind of unexpected playoff legend not seen since John Druce’s run in the 1990 Stanley Cup playoffs.

His Runners-Up: Alex Chiasson, Boston University; Erik Haula, Minnesota; Chris Noonan, Niagara; Chris Wagner, Colgate

We’ve been beating the drum all season about our dislike for shootouts, so playoff hockey brings an end to that possibility and replaces it with one of the most exciting parts of the game — sudden-death overtime. When every shot has a chance to end the game and turnovers, mistakes and bad bounces result in fans and competitors moving to the edge of their seats it results in a special kind of hockey emotion that can’t be matched. Cheers to the teams around the nation for providing those opportunities, as there were 13 overtime games played this past weekend, including seven that stretched to a second overtime period.

Losing to a lower seed in the opening round of the conference tournament is disappointing, but it was a real downer for UMass Lowell and Colorado College, both knocked out by teams it swept the last weekend of the regular season. The sting of losing to Providence in three games shouldn’t last long for the River Hawks, who are virtually assured a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers, on the other hand, will be haunted by Michigan Tech’s sweep. CC’s odds of getting an NCAA at-large bid are remote.

What Happened?: Wonder why teams battle so hard to secure first-round byes in the league tournament? Look no further than last weekend’s results from the Atlantic Hockey, CCHA, and ECAC Hockey playoffs. Of the 11 teams in those tournaments to earn first-round byes—not counting the CCHA’s Michigan State-Miami series since both teams were off the previous weekend—all but CCHA top seed Ferris State advanced to the semifinal round. The Bulldogs may have been the one bye team that would have benefited from getting right back to work; after a disappointing loss and tie to Western Michigan in the regular season finale, Ferris got the bye, then ran into an inspired Bowling Green team playing with tons of confidence after upsetting Northern Michigan the previous weekend.

What We’re Watching: There were a couple of games in Hockey East series this past weekend with an unusually high amount of penalty calls and we’re keeping an eye on how this might impact games over the next few weeks. The referee tandem of Jeff Bunyon and Kevin Keenan whistled 22 penalties for 55 minutes in the first game of the Maine-Merrimack series and then whistled a total of 13 minors for 26 minutes in the second game of the BU-UNH series. Meanwhile, the tandem of Tim Benedetto and Kevin Shea worked the final two games of the Maine-Merrimack series and called 40 total penalties for 184 minutes in game two and 15 penalties for 30 minutes in the third game.

It can certainly be attributed to the participating teams and the tenor of the games, especially in the Maine-Merrimack matchup, but it’s also something to watch in the future. A glance at boxscores from other Hockey East series and other series across the country shows most games totaling in the range of 8-12 penalty calls per game. Four of the top-eight most penalized teams in the nation this season are Hockey East members.

What the …?: While doing some prep work for the avalanche of NCAA Tournament coverage that launches shortly after Sunday’s announcement of this year’s field, we were surprised by the number of schools that have been to the NCAAs since Minnesota made its last trip back in 2008. Twenty-nine of ‘em, to be exact. So, as a fun way to share what we learned, we’ve created a Sporcle quiz on the topic. Enjoy. Warning to WCHA fans: Many of the answers are teams from conferences outside the WCHA, so you may struggle.

@bgsuhammond Andrew Hammond

Few words can describe how bad I felt after letting in the third goal and even fewer words can describe how it feels now. #ontotheJOE

• Bowling Green junior Andrew Hammond experienced a range of emotions on Sunday night, from a low point when he allowed a goal from center ice to the high of his team rallying for a 4-3 overtime victory and series win over the top-seeded Ferris State Bulldogs. After that third Ferris State goal in the third period, Hammond didn’t allow another to pass the rest of the game. He had 19 saves in the last two periods and overtime.

ANTOINE LAGANIERE
Yale
Jr. | F | Ile Cadieux, Quebec

His Statistics: 5-0–5, +2 rating, 2 PPG, SHG, GWG, ENG, Hat Trick

His Impact: Last week’s First Shift included lots of chatter about teams who came through in big situations, and this week’s edition starts off by honoring a player who did the same in a first-round playoff series. Laganiere, a hulking junior forward for the Yale Bulldogs, scored in each game of the Bulldogs’ series win over Princeton.

He saved his best for the decisive third game, with a hat trick in Yale’s 7-3 win on Sunday that sent the Bulldogs to a quarterfinal matchup at Harvard. Laganiere ranks second on the team with 17 goals, and has totaled 30 points this season. He had just 23 points combined over his freshman and sophomore seasons.

His Runners-Up: Adam Berkle, Bowling Green; Trevor Lewis, Robert Morris; Joseph Pendenza, UMass Lowell; Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College

One of the hockey traditions that has seemingly become more popular in recent seasons is to ignore what some might consider to be preliminary trophies as a symbolic gesture that teams have sights set on bigger prizes. For example, avoiding touching a league regular-season trophy because it’s not the NCAA championship trophy. Longtime readers of INCH know that we don’t buy in to that thought. Championships are hard to win, and should be celebrated.

Cheers to the league champs this year for honoring and respecting that. Video shows that players from Ferris State and Minnesota had proper ceremonies on home ice. Union clinched the ECAC Hockey crown on the road, but had a trophy presentation and brief ceremony at the coach’s weekly radio show. Boston College wrapped things up at Conte Forum on Saturday night and accepted the trophy on ice, displayed it for the fans, and posed for a team photo. Air Force was in a little bit of a different situation, as several Atlantic Hockey teams had a shot at the title on the final weekend, and the Falcons played a series at Robert Morris to cap the regular season.

We’ve praised the amount of televised college hockey games throughout the year, so we’ve got to mention it when there’s a problem. As it currently stands, none of the ECAC Hockey championship weekend games from Atlantic City are set to be aired by any traditional television broadcast outlets. Sure there’s an online viewing package available, but get these games on TV.

What Happened?: On-ice results notwithstanding, it’s been a brutal season for Boston University what with two players being booted from the team for alleged sexual assaults and Charlie Coyle bolting for Saint John of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. When asked about Coyle late last week, Terriers head coach Jack Parker told the Boston Hockey Blog he hadn’t monitored his progress in the Q, adding, “Unless you’re real dumb … and want nothing to do with school, or you’re an 18 year-old phenom that is going to be in the NHL at 19, college hockey is the way to go.” Like Parker, we have strong feelings about the benefits of playing college hockey, but insulting the intelligence of players who choose the major junior route comes off as petty and shortsighted.

What We’re Watching: Playoff hockey is intense, but expect some of this weekend’s series to have an extra layer of testiness with bitter rivals clashing in best-of-three series—in ECAC Hockey, Yale travels to Harvard and Rensselaer makes the short drive to Union, the CCHA gives us Notre Dame at Michigan, and Hockey East has Boston University at New Hampshire. Emotions are at a fever pitch when these teams meet in the regular season; they’ll be off the charts weekend.

What the …?: We should’ve seen Bowling Green’s upset of Northern Michigan in the first round of the CCHA playoffs coming. It’s not just because the Falcons went up to Marquette and bounced the Wildcats from the playoffs last season, but because the Berry Events Center has been a safe haven for BGSU in recent years. Need proof? Bowling Green’s CCHA road record (regular season and playoffs) since the start of the 2009-10 season is 9-34-7; the Falcons’ mark at Northern Michigan during that same span is 5-4-1.

@KGordonSentinel Kevin Gordon

College hockey needs to compact its schedule to avoid playoff games over break. Crowds are embarrassing.

• Kevin Gordon of the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune raised this item from his wishlist over the weekend, but it’s a bit unrealistic without drastically altering the hockey season (not going to happen) or taking spring break off of academic calendars (definitely not going to happen). However, there are alternate considerations that might be made, and UMass Lowell is taking advantage of that. The campus residences have a contingency plan to close at a later date, depending if the team is hosting a decisive Sunday game. That’s some campus-wide commitment to the hockey program.

David Valek

DAVID VALEK
Harvard
Jr. | F | Zagreb, Croatia

His Statistics: 2 GP, 4-0–4, GWG, +4 rating

His Impact: Valek scored four goals on the weekend as Harvard picked up two crucial victories over St. Lawrence and Clarkson to wrap up its regular season. The Crimson trailed 1-0 against St. Lawrence before Valek knotted the score just 65 seconds later. He added another in the third period as Harvard picked up the victory. His Saturday night effort against Clarkson, when a first-round playoff bye and home-ice quarterfinal series was on the line, was even more impressive. Once again Valek came through. He scored twice more, both in the third period, as Harvard capped a rally from a 2-0 deficit.

The four-goal outburst was extremely uncharacteristic for Valek, who entered the weekend with five goals in 84 career games. The least surprising stat of the weekend is that he had eight blocked shots. That’s what his game is built around. He’s a reliable competitor among a solid group of forwards and does the little things to help Harvard win.

It paid off for the Crimson on the last weekend of the year, and they finished third in ECAC Hockey, after being picked in the league’s preseason media poll to finish 12th.

His Runners-Up: Jack Connolly, Minnesota Duluth; Eric Delong, Sacred Heart; Joey Diamond, Maine; Reilly Smith, Miami

Safe to say David Carle and Eric Ringel didn’t expect their hockey careers to play out the way they did— Ringel played in 23 games over two seasons for Notre Dame before a concussion and ensuing symptoms ended his playing days in 2009, while Carle never suited up for Denver after he was diagnosed with a heart condition prior to his freshman season in 2008. But even after hanging up their skates, both players stuck around to serve as student assistant coaches. Carle and Ringel were honored at Senior Day festivities at their respective schools this past weekend, and we’d like to salute them, too, for their contributions to Denver and Notre Dame.

As you probably know by now, we’re not fans of the shootout. So it pains us to see a rivalry as heated as the annual battle between Alaska and Alaska Anchorage for the Governor’s Cup decided by a shootout. Each team won at their respective home rinks, necessitating the need to break the tie using a method that’s slightly better than a coin flip. We like the rules governing the Colorado College-Denver Gold Pan series—win the trophy outright or it stays with the previous year’s victor.

What Happened?: It’s probably more appropriate to refer to this section as What Didn’t Happen, in regard to the wild finish in Atlantic Hockey on the last weekend of the regular season. Six teams headed into their final two games within three points of first place. Air Force was the one team that fully controlled its destiny, as the Falcons entered with a one-point advantage, but that went out the window with an overtime loss on Friday night at Robert Morris. Thing is, none of the other teams really took full advantage. Niagara pulled even by defeating RIT in a matchup of the second- and third-place teams. Fourth-place Mercyhurst lost to Canisius and fifth-place Bentley tied sixth-place Holy Cross. The following night, Air Force responded with a 3-0 win, and Niagara couldn’t match that result when the Purps tied 2-2 at RIT. Six teams had opportunities, but none of the six teams in contention managed to win twice on the weekend. Suppose that’s a fitting way to conclude one of the tightest conference races in any league in many, many years. Here’s the resulting playoff bracket in Atlantic Hockey.

What We’re Watching: There’s plenty of playoff and regular-season hockey this weekend, and one matchup we’ll monitor is the CCHA Tournament first-round series between Bowling Green and Northern Michigan. It’s a rematch from the first round of last year’s league playoffs in which the 11th-seeded Falcons upset the 6th-seeded Wildcats in three games, winning the decisive third game in double overtime. A redux isn’t necessarily in the cards, but one has to wonder if last season’s outcome is a motivator for Northern Michigan or gives Bowling Green a confidence boost.

What the …?: Worst. Deadline. Ever?

Actually, last year’s NHL trade deadline lacked blockbuster deals but with all the talk of Dustin Brown or Rick Nash potentially on the move this season, the end result was decidedly ho-hum. When the day’s biggest trade is arguably Andre Kostitsyn going from Montreal to Nashville or Paul Gaustad moving to the Predators from Buffalo, it’s a letdown. A few players with college ties were dealt Monday, most notably former Wisconsin defenseman Tom Gilbert going from Edmonton to Minnesota for defenseman Nick Schultz and ex-Nebraska-Omaha blueliner Greg Zanon shipped by the Wild to Boston for erstwhile Michigan defenseman Steve Kampfer.

@DaveWarsofsky5 David Warsofsky

Big weekend for the terriers. Gonna be nice to play the first round infront of the best fans in college hockey

• The former Terrier had an eye on his ex-teammates who put together a road sweep of Vermont with a convincing 5-0 win on Friday night followed by a 3-2 come-from-behind overtime win on Saturday. That concluded a difficult week full of off-ice headlines, and assured BU of a home-ice series in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs. Warsofsky, by the way, has spent his rookie year in pro hockey with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, where he has 22 points in 48 games.

CONNOR KNAPP
Miami
Sr. | G | York, N.Y.

His Statistics: Knapp stopped all but one of the 60 shots he faced in the RedHawks’ weekend sweep of visiting Notre Dame, including 31 stops in Friday’s 3-0 shutout.

His Impact: In a series with huge conference and national tournament implications against Notre Dame this past weekend, Knapp refused to let the struggling Fighting Irish off the mat, making 31 saves in Miami’s 3-0 win Friday and turning aside 28 of 29 shots in Saturday’s 4-1 triumph. The wins allowed the RedHawks to move to within two points of fourth-place Michigan State and three points of third-place Western Michigan in the CCHA standings with two games remaining in the regular season.

Knapp earns INCH’s National Player of the Week honors for the second time in as many months, and with good reason—since Jan. 1, he’s been arguably the hottest goaltender in the country. The RedHawks are 10-4-0 since New Year’s Day and during that same span, Knapp is 8-2-0 with a 1.03 goals against average and .958 save percentage. He enters the weekend ranked second in the country with a 1.65 GAA and third in the nation with a .934 save percentage.

His Runners-Up: Kenny Agostino, Yale; Alex Grieve, Bentley; Erik Haula, Minnesota; Parker Milner, Boston College

He’s probably more pleased with his team’s seven-game winning streak, rise to first place in Hockey East, or third consecutive Beanpot title, but Boston College coach Jerry York deserves a moment in the spotlight after notching career win no. 900 Friday when his Eagles beat Merrimack. York is the second college hockey coach to reach the 900-win plateau, joining Ron Mason in that elite group, and it’s a matter of when, not if, the 66-year-old York surpasses Mason’s 924 victories to become college hockey’s winningest coach. When it happens, expect post-milestone comments similar to those heard in the Conte Forum interview room last weekend.

“When you sign up for a team sport, whether you’re coaching or you’re a player, it’s never about individual awards or accomplishments,” York told the Boston Globe‘s Nancy Marrapese-Burrell after Friday’s historic win. “We try to win trophies. When you’re a team, in a team setting, that’s got to be your goal.”

There was a time in December, and even continuing into the turn of the new year, when INCH staffers penciled in Notre Dame on the short list of favorites to win the national championship. As February comes to a close, it’s hardly a stretch to say that Notre Dame might not even be favored to win its series at home against Michigan State this weekend. The Fighting Irish looked like legitimate national threats, bolstered by wins over BU on Dec. 31 and Minnesota on Jan. 7. The bigger picture reveals a team that hasn’t met that potential, and its struggles have been in the offensive zone. Notre Dame has lost 13 of its last 19 games. In those 13 defeats, Notre Dame has scored just 17 goals. Ouch.

The bright side is that this team still has talent, and a little bit of time to get things figured out before the postseason begins.

What Happened?: Landing former National Hockey League Players Association head Paul Kelly as the first executive director of College Hockey Inc. back in November 2009 was quite a coup for the fledgling organization. And while his sudden resignation Monday was a surprise and the reasons unknown, it should be noted that in his 28 months at College Hockey Inc., Kelly lent instant legitimacy to the operation by giving college hockey a unified voice with a consistent message, not to mention the ability to bend the ears of the sport’s most influential leaders (Gary Bettman, for example). Coaches are thrilled with the inroads College Hockey Inc. has made on behalf of their programs over the last two-plus years; the work’s not done, but thanks to Kelly’s guidance, the framework for success is in place.

What We’re Watching: College hockey on TV. Lots of it. There are more games available on national and regional sports channels than ever before. With the increase in exposure of the game, especially on NBC Sports Network and CBS Sports Network, we feel it’s only appropriate to say thank you. Two of the key executives making a push to get college hockey games on the air in such quantity (and with strong production to boot) are Sam Flood at NBC Sports Network, who played Division III college hockey at Williams; and Ross Molloy of CBS Sports Network, a St. Lawrence grad. Might we recommend sending a thank-you note along to those folks and mention their names in correspondence with NBCSN and CBSSN to make sure they know college hockey fans appreciate what they’re doing.

What the …?: Longtime readers of our First Shift feature probably recall a section we used to include titled Rankings Outrage. Consider this a return to that thinking for what is a true anomaly, regarding this week’s USCHO poll. When the voter totals were compiled, Colgate actually moved into that national poll at the 20th position. This, following a weekend during which the Raiders lost twice, to unranked teams St. Lawrence and Clarkson. That’s how the math shook down when the votes were in.

@YogaMatt9 Matt Harlow

What happened to Lou Bega and where are mambos 1-4?

• Contemplative observation from Matt Harlow of Brown. Tweet at him if you’ve got an answer.

Kyle Bonis

KYLE BONIS
Ferris State
Jr. | Forward | Lindsay, Ontario

His Statistics: Two goals and two assists in the Bulldogs’ sweep of Notre Dame, including two goals and an assist in Friday’s 3-0 win at Compton Family Ice Arena.

His Impact: Ferris State has rocketed to the top spot in every ranking imaginable on the strength of a 12-game unbeaten streak, one that reached a dozen with two wins against Notre Dame last weekend. Bonis sparked Ferris to its 3-0 win at Notre Dame Friday, factoring in on all three of his team’s scores with two goals and an assist. He added an assist in Saturday’s 5-1 win over the Fighting Irish in Big Rapids.

Bonis, who scored a total of 16 goals as a freshman and sophomore, has 15 goals through 32 games on the season, one fewer than team leader Jordie Johnston. Among CCHA skaters, only Miami’s Reilly Smith and Johnston have more goals than Bonis.

His Runners-Up: Greg Carey, St. Lawrence; John Gaudreau, Boston College; Drew George, Sacred Heart; Carter Rowney, North Dakota

With the explosion in social media, we’re kind of surprised we hadn’t seen this sooner. Army is giving fans the chance to decide which sweaters its hockey team will wear for Friday’s game against American International by voting at the school’s Facebook page. Voters have three choices—gold, gray, or white—and the virtual polls close Thursday. It’s a fun and easy way for fans to interact with the program, and there are no bad choices. All three sweaters look great to us.

For most of us media types, a team’s nightly line chart is a tremendously valuable resource to glean loads of information in a very concise format. (SIDs, if you’re reading, we especially like when a player’s birthdate and draft status is included). However, that comes with an aesthetic responsibility and most line charts meet the basic standard. Simple, easy-to-read fonts make the most sense. Make sure uniform numbers are the biggest element on the page, and using conference and team logos is A-OK.

We also believe in an element of respect for the game and a nod to the hockey gods, which made us take note when Yale’s line chart this past weekend included a logo for the upcoming 2012 Frozen Four in Tampa on the lower-right corner. Yep, that’s a Yale team that has never been to the Frozen Four, and is currently 10-13-2 on the season and stands tied for eighth in the ECAC Hockey standings. We understand that every team has aspirations, but let’s keep it realistic for now, and maybe add that to the mix after a team wins two NCAA Tournament games this spring.

What Happened?: While most of the hockey world was atwitter — or on Twitter — about the 2013 NHL Winter Classic featuring Original Six rivals Detroit and Toronto at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, college hockey fans took note that the 2012 Great Lakes Invitational will be played outdoors at Detroit’s Comerica Park. The tournament field features traditional participants Michigan, Michigan State, and Michigan Tech along with Western Michigan. It’ll be a tremendous stage for college pucks in the state of Michigan; we’re curious to see how hockey’s first multi-day outdoor event plays out.

What We’re Watching: In compiling the latest edition of the INCH Power Rankings, Bemidji State seriously caught our eye for really the first time this season. On further examination, the Beavers are compiling a very good season despite flying under the radar. With eight of Bemidji State’s first 10 games on the road this season, including trips to Miami, Colorado College and Minnesota Duluth, it was bound to be a tough start. A mid-November split against North Dakota, really set the team in motion and they’ve been on a roll since the start of December. In eight two-game weekends since then, Bemidji State is 10-4-2. The only “bad” weekend in the stretch came when they were swept at Denver, and there’s no shame in that (just ask the Gophers). More consistent play from senior goalie Dan Bakala has steadied the team, and they get scoring from committee. It’s kept them in the race for a home-ice berth in the WCHA playoffs, and with the last two weekend series against the teams currently 11th and 12th in the standings, Bemidji State has a good say in controlling its own destiny. Plus, they might be catching Minnesota at a good time this weekend, and it’s a series that Bemidji State always uses to measure itself.

What the …?: A few weeks ago in the Grand Forks Herald, North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol, who’s had two recruits spurn him for the major junior ranks in recent months, said college teams are at a disadvantage when battling Canadian Hockey League teams for talent. Last week, Sportsnet.ca columnist Patrick King fired back, opining that college hockey has only itself to blame. The bulk of King’s reasoning was flawed at best, but his suggestion that goaltender Jack Campbell eschewed Michigan for the Windsor Spitfires because the Wolverines wouldn’t save a spot for him on the roster is ridiculous.

“[Campbell’s] college options would be lessened if he waited to declare his destination after attending the United States National Team Development Program and the NHL draft, since a team would make sure those spots are taken care of well in advance,” King wrote.

Hardly. Campbell had been a Michigan verbal commit for some time and was a mortal lock to be the Wolverines’ no. 1 goalie the moment he stepped on campus. As Mark Twain once said, get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.

@tommillergf Tom Miller

@UNDSID I was hoping for a headline of rowdy rowney sniper, but it was voted down.

• A suggested headline to North Dakota sports information director Jayson Hajdu ended up earning a retweet from Hajdu, and a spot as this week’s Tweet of the Week. It certainly brought a smile to those familiar with 1980s pro wrestling characters, and was a fitting descriptor after Carter Rowney’s two-goal, one-assist effort in North Dakota’s 3-1 win at Minnesota Duluth.

SHAWN HUNWICK
Michigan
Sr. | G | Sterling Heights, Mich.

His Statistics: 2 GP, 2-0-0, shutout, 53 saves, 1 GA in series sweep of Miami

His Impact: Some will make a claim that Hunwick is the best goalie in the country, and he made a case for that distinction this weekend in a key CCHA series at Yost Ice Arena against Miami. Hunwick’s 24-save effort in the series opener boosted Michigan to a 4-1 win. He blanked the RedHawks one night later with 29 saves, including one of the controversial variety when a shot on a Miami breakaway was reviewed on video and ruled not to have crossed the goal line.

The bigger picture is that Michigan has risen near the top of the CCHA standings with some stellar play over the last two months. The Wolverines are 10-1-2 in their last 13 games. Hunwick has played in 12 of those and has a 1.34 goals-against average and .957 save percentage during that stretch.

His Runners-Up: Spencer Abbott, Maine; J.T. Brown, Minnesota Duluth; Shayne Gostisbehere, Union; Jason Torf, Air Force

Midway through the second period of Friday’s 6-3 win at Ohio State, Michigan State defenseman A.J. Sturges scored his first goal of the season, cutting a two-goal Buckeye lead in half. Not only was the goal significant in that it sparked a Spartan comeback from a 3-1 first-period deficit, but it was also a milestone for Sturges, who in the fall of 2008 was severely beaten in an off-campus fight.

Sturges, a Madison, Wis., native, sustained a fractured skull and concussion and missed the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons due to his injuries. He spent most of last season getting back into game shape, appearing in one contest.

This season, Sturges has played in 10 games. His goal this past weekend was the second of his Spartan career—his first was Nov. 10, 2007, in a win against Mercyhurst at Munn Ice Arena. For some timeframe perspective, a guy named Justin Abdelkader also scored in that game. Good on you, A.J. Making it back on the ice was remarkable, and getting a goal is pure frosting.

Michigan’s impressive sweep of Miami was blemished when the two teams racked up 72 minutes in penalties in the final 3:20 of the Wolverines’ 3-0 win Saturday. Included in that total are fighting majors assessed to Miami’s Will Weber and Michigan’s Chris Brown that carry with them an automatic one-game suspension. For Weber, that means sitting out against Alabama-Huntsville Friday. Brown has to miss the Wolverines’ match at Michigan State that same night. Disadvantage, Michigan.

It’s clear that the frustration was building on both sides. The Wolverines felt the RedHawks were repeatedly running goaltender Shawn Hunwick with no consequence. The longer Hunwick kept the RedHawks off the board, meanwhile, the more Miami stewed.

We understand the regular season is a grind, points are hard to come by, and the cramped quarters of the CCHA standings make the weekly battles that much more ferocious. We’re not pointing fingers here; rather, we’re advocating that everyone play with a little more poise. It avoids situations that give the college game a bad look and ultimately hurt teams down the road.

What Happened?: It was a night of comebacks on Friday as three ranked teams turned early deficits into victories. The most dramatic comeback was achieved by Maine, as the Black Bears trailed Alabama-Huntsville 3-0 after two periods. Maine scored three times in the third period, including the tying goal in the last minute of the period, and then won 4-3 in overtime. Both Michigan State and Harvard fell behind 3-1 after one period in road games. The Spartans ended up defeating Ohio State and Harvard toppled Quinnipiac by identical 6-3 finals.

What We’re Watching: Is Michigan Tech the streakiest-scoring—and goal-allowing—team in college hockey? Based on recent results, the Huskies are in the midst of a trend that may warrant a closer look. After a little poking around, here’s what caught our eye:

Jan. 13 vs. Alaska Anchorage: The Seawolves score the game’s first goal. The Huskies then reel off five straight en route to a 6-2 win.

Jan. 14 vs. Alaska Anchorage: Tech scores three times in the game’s first 10 minutes. UAA scores the next four to take a 4-3 lead with 15:19 left in regulation, but the Huskies score the last three to win, 6-4.

Jan. 21 at Northern Michigan: The Wildcats score two goals in a 42-second span of the first period, but the Huskies score two power-play goals less than two minutes apart in the second. Alas, NMU scores three unanswered goals for a 5-2 victory.

Jan. 27 at Minnesota Duluth: Top-ranked UMD scores four goals in a 10-minute span of the first period. Tech counters by scoring four times over a 20-minute stretch of the second and third periods, salvaging a 4-4 tie.

Jan. 28 at Minnesota Duluth: The Huskies score four goals in the first period on their way to a 5-0 whitewash of the Bullodgs. That’s nine straight unanswered goals for MTU.

Feb. 3 at Minnesota State: The Mavs score three goals over a six-minute arc of the first period; the Huskies respond by tying the game with three straight of their own. Minnesota State earns a 5-3 win with two third-period goals.

Feb. 4 at Minnesota State: The hosts take a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the game, but Tech takes command by scoring six first-period goals and cruise to a 7-3 win.

What the …?: On a lot of nights, especially when television isn’t a part of the equation, college hockey fans can count on getting from the first-period puck drop to the final buzzer in about two hours and 15 minutes. That wasn’t the case at Princeton’s Baker Rink when the Tigers and visiting Dartmouth tussled for three hours and 19 minutes. Not that it was all related to the on-ice activity, although the game did end 3-3 after a scoreless overtime. An hour delay took place near the midpoint of the third period when a shot from Dartmouth’s Jesse Beamish hit the glass and shattered it. Earlier in the day, two other planes of glass were broken during the team’s pre-game skates – one by each team.

@fergy2004 Ryan

Do I want the patriots or giants to win to help the Sioux in the pairwise?

• Yup, it’s that time of the year. And they prefer to be called University of North Dakota.

DAN SULLIVAN
Maine
So. | G | York, Pa.

His Statistics: Sullivan stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced in the Black Bears’ 4-2 win at Boston University Friday, then made a career-high 38 saves to lead Maine to a 3-1 triumph Saturday and a series sweep of the host Terriers.

His Impact: The charging Black Bears are 11-2-1 since Thanksgiving and—fresh off sweeps of perennial Hockey East heavyweights Boston College and Boston University—enter February with as much momentum as any team in the country.

Sullivan’s consistency in goal is one reason for Maine’s surge. His 38 saves in Saturday’s 3-1 win against BU marked the fourth time in his last five starts he’s made 30-plus saves; in his last five appearances, Sullivan is 4-0-1 with a 2.33 goals against average and a .921 save percentage. Among Hockey East goalies, only UMass Lowell’s Doug Carr has more wins than Sullivan.

His Runners Up: Garrett Bartus, Connecticut; Cody Ferriero, Northeastern; Derek Graham, Ferris State; Luke Salazar, Denver; Joe Wilson, Colgate

Congratulations to ex-Wisconsin goaltender Brian Elliott, who preceded his first NHL All-Star Game appearance over the past weekend by signing a two-year contract extension with the St. Louis Blues, the team that picked him off the scrap heap for little more than the league minimum in the offseason, for a reported $3.6 million. Elliott won the battle for Ottawa’s starting gig prior to the start of the 2010-11 season but struggled, lost the job, and was dealt to Colorado. At the break, the Blues are two points behind Detroit in the Central Division standings thanks in large measure to the goaltending platoon of Elliott and Jaroslav Halak—St. Louis has allowed 102 goals in 49 games, second fewest in the league.

We understand that student media generally serves a very specific audience, primarily composed of its peers, which is why it’s not the best move for a college newspaper staffer to call out student peers on the sports pages. A columnist for the Cornell Daily Sun put a strongly-worded rip-job together following the Big Red’s men’s hockey losses against Colgate over the weekend, and wasn’t afraid to name names. The bigger problem was that he named the wrong one by assigning culpability for Colgate’s game-changing short-handed goal to Cornell senior forward Sean Collins, when two defensemen actually coughed the puck up on the play.

What Happened: The American Hockey League held its annual all-star classic Sunday and Monday in Atlantic City and many former collegians participated. Recent college alumni included the likes of Cory Conacher from Canisius and ex-Miami teammates Andy Miele and Carter Camper. Some of the league’s elder statesmen also came from the college ranks including Krys Kolanos, Clay Wilson and Darren Haydar. Former Maine goalie Ben Bishop earned MVP honors after stopping 10 of 11 shots in the third period and all four shootout attempts to lead the Western Conference to an 8-7 shootout victory. A total of 26 players who played at least one year of college hockey took part among the 48 players overall.

What We’re Watching: Ferris State extended its unbeaten streak to eight with two wins against Michigan State this past weekend, climbing to first place in the CCHA standings. The Bulldogs close the regular season with four tricky series (at Northern Michigan, vs. Bowling Green, home-and-home with Notre Dame and Western Michigan), significant because staying in the top four of the league standings and retaining a home-ice spot for the CCHA playoff quarterfinals is more important for Ferris than any other team in the league. The Bulldogs are a sterling 11-1-2 at home this season and a mediocre 6-7-1 away from Big Rapids. In those seven losses—six on the road and one at a neutral site—FSU has scored a total of five goals and has been shut out on four occasions.

What the …?: Through 20 games of Harvard’s season, they’ve posted a record of 6-6-8. Yup, that’s eight ties in 20 games for the Crimson with just six wins and six losses. With that kind of ledger, it’s bound to create some statistical oddities. How about this? At this point in the year, only four teams have fewer wins – Vermont (5), American International (5), Army (3) and Sacred Heart (2). But on the other side, only two teams have fewer losses – Minnesota Duluth (5) and Merrimack (5).

@Akillorn19 Alex Killorn

Guess I got caught picking my nose on national tv. Whatever, where I come from they call that a #powermove

• When you score two goals on national TV against an ancient rival, extra-curricular activities can be overlooked. The real power moves came in the Harvard senior’s two-goal performance against Yale – the first was a wraparound goal and the second came when he drove the net and scored the game-winning goal. By the way, if you haven’t seen Killorn play, check out the early game at the Beanpot on Monday. He’s worth the price of admission and worth setting your video recorder to see.

Reilly Smith

REILLY SMITH
Miami
Jr. | F | Mimico, Ontario

His Statistics: Four goals in the RedHawks’ sweep of visiting Western Michigan, including all three goals (one of them short-handed) in Friday’s 3-1 win and the game-winner in Saturday’s 4-0 shutout.

His Impact: Since a disastrous October in which it won two of its eight games, Miami has climbed to within two points of first-place Ohio State in the CCHA standings by going 12-4-2 since Nov. 1. Smith has played a huge role in the RedHawks’ revival, scoring 14 goals and 20 points in those 18 games. His four goals this weekend give him 18 for the season—in all of college hockey, only Colgate’s Austin Smith (24) and Minnesota’s Nick Bjugstad (20) have more.

Smith and the RedHawks have a tough, but favorable, schedule from here on out with seven of their 10 remaining games at home, including a potentially huge home-and-home series with Ohio State to close the regular season. The only road series left on Miami’s slate is an equally important trip to Ann Arbor Feb. 3-4 to face Michigan.

His Runners Up: Shane Madolora, RIT; Mike Mangene, Maine; Bryce Merriam, Rensselaer; Justin Schultz, Wisconsin

While we chose Reilly Smith as the INCH National Player of the Week, it wasn’t an easy decision. The efforts of all the runner-up candidates made this the most difficult choice of the year, so we’ll take this time to salute them in greater detail. The goalies were at the top of their games, as RIT and RPI went to New England states and came home after four-point weekends. RIT’s Shane Madolora (62 saves) and RPI’s Bryce Merriam (81 saves) each had a shutout and allowed one goal in the other game. Matt Mangene of Maine led the Black Bears to a sweep of Boston College by scoring the overtime-winner in Friday’s victory and adding a hat trick in Saturday’s win. Wisconsin defenseman Justin Schultz had another big weekend to boost his Hobey candidacy with five points and a plus-seven rating in two wins against Alaska Anchorage.

Over the last several weeks, people have had the opportunity to login and vote for their favorite players or other deserving candidates in the first phase of the Vote For Hobey. With that, has come some campaigning and balloting updates (and even misinformed articles) from different factions in support of players. We’re all for the enthusiasm, but the bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter at all in determining the top-10 Hobey finalists, let alone the winner. At this stage of voting, 58 coaches receive ballots. Additionally, the fan vote accounts for one percent of the total results – roughly a little more than half of one coach’s vote.

What Happened: Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson was understandably peeved after the CCHA denied the Fighting Irish’s appeal of its suspension of forward Riley Sheahan, causing the standout junior to miss Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Michigan. The league iced Sheahan for what it termed an “illegal hit” in the second period of Notre Dame’s Jan. 13 loss to Western Michigan.

Thing is, had the officials working that game made the correct call, it’s unlikely Sheahan gets suspended. Referees Keith Sergott and Matthew Miller saw the hit, but wrongly assessed the major penalty and game misconduct to Notre Dame’s Jeff Costello—hence the CCHA’s revisionist justice nearly a week later.

“It was more about the process. It wasn’t so much about the call,” Jackson told the Notre Dame Observer. “I hope they take a hard look at the official that involved and give him the same kind of suspension.”

What We’re Watching: We’re watching college hockey on TV—lots of it. With the proliferation of national and regional sports outlets and DirecTV, it’s the golden age of televised college pucks. But we’ve got a simple request for game analysts: less is more. Just because you’re on television for two to three hours at a time, you don’t have to try to cram everything you know about the game into that time frame. Tell us what we need to know, and move on.

What the …?: Saw some brief reports Monday from the Canadian Press about an AHL suspension to former New Hampshire defenseman Garrett Stafford. He’ll sit out one game for the Hamilton Bulldogs due to his actions in Saturday’s outdoor game against the Toronto Marlies. Stafford’s transgression? He apparently threw a water bottle at the Marlies’ bench.

@BruceCiskie Bruce Ciskie

Not surprised to see UMD lose a couple first-place votes. There are voters who use the Pairwise now that it has enough data to be valid.

• If this is indeed the case, and we have no reason to believe it’s not true, then what value do those voters bring to the polling process? Many fans like to clamor that the PairWise is the only thing that matters for NCAA Tournament selection and the polls are meaningless. That’s true … on one day of the year. The PairWise is designed to measure teams based on the entire season’s body of work and there’s a lot of hockey left to be played. To view it as a ranking system is flat-out wrong. The benefit of voter-driven polls and compiling the INCH Power Rankings is that actual hockey coaches and media who closely follow the games can make their case based on what they’ve seen by watching teams all season long. Besides, do you really want to rely on a comparison system that currently deems CCHA ninth-place team Northern Michigan more worthy of an NCAA Tournament spot than WCHA leader Minnesota or ECAC Hockey leader Cornell?

Stevie Moses

STEVIE MOSES
New Hampshire
Sr. | F | Leominster, Mass.

His Statistics: Five goals in the Wildcats’ wins against Providence and Dartmouth, including the lone tally in UNH’s 1-0 win at Schneider Arena Wednesday and four goals in a a 4-1 victory over the Big Green in Manchester, N.H., Saturday.

His Impact: It hasn’t been a banner year for New Hampshire—the Wildcats enter the week in eighth place in the Hockey East standings, just one point ahead of ninth-place Northeastern—but it’s been a pretty good one for Stevie Moses. The senior forward took over first place in the Hockey East goal scoring race this past weekend, netting the lone goal in UNH’s 1-0 win at Providence Wednesday, then added four goals Saturday as the Wildcats cruised past Dartmouth, 4-1, in a non-conference match in Manchester, N.H.

Moses, who also scored four goals in his team’s Nov. 26 win against Alabama-Huntsville, leads the Wildcats with 16 goals, 26 points, and five power-play goals.

His Runners Up: Michael Colavecchia, RIT; Troy Grosenick, Union; Alex Guptill, Michigan; Drew Shore, Denver

North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol took swift and decisive action against Ben Blood Monday, pulling the ‘A’ from the senior defenseman’s sweater for his role in a confrontation in the postgame handshake line Saturday following NoDak’s 6-2 loss to visiting Minnesota.

“Regardless of any provocation, Ben’s actions in the postgame handshake were not acceptable,” Hakstol said in a prepared statement. “The handshake is a traditional, gentlemanly part of our game where, at the end of a hard-fought battle, opponents show good sportsmanship and shake hands like men.”

Blood tussled with Minnesota freshman forwards Seth Ambroz and Kyle Rau in the handshake line. Blood was possibly provoked by a slash from a Minnesota player late in the third period of the game, and as the final horn sounded Saturday, Blood whistled a slap shot that hit Ambroz, resulting in a brief skirmish.

It’s a tough way for Hakstol to teach Blood a lesson, but it’s the right move. Ultimately, this experience will make Blood a better player, a better teammate, and a better leader.

After perusing the social networks on a weekly basis, we’re inundated with complaining. From your favorite team’s results to downgrading a rival, travel woes or even the weather, people are always complaining. Why should we pile on and bring more negative into the world? Instead, we present this:

What Happened?: OK, OK, so we’re probably beating a dead horse at this point, but it’s our horse and it’s our beatin’ to dole out. One of the aspects of outdoor hockey games that we enjoy is that often teams will wear an alternate sweater for the special event, and that was the case over the last few weeks. While New Hampshire and Maine stuck to their tried-and-true uniform looks, as well as Michigan and Union in alternate black sweaters, other teams presented new looks to mixed results. Our favorite of the bunch were the designs sported by Harvard, and we were less impressed by Ohio State’s pseudo-pajama look. Northeastern wore red against Boston College, dressed in gold; and one week earlier Massachusetts sported a big M on the crest of their sweater against Vermont with a retro diagonal UVM on their road greens.

What We’re Watching: Usually, it’s the time of the year when we’ve got a pretty good idea of which teams have established themselves as the truly elite groups in college hockey. This year, that seems to be a bit murkier. Some of the top teams really haven’t run away from the pack and other contenders are showing obvious flaws. You don’t have to look much further than the overall records. At this time last year, eight teams in the country had 15 wins or more. This year, there are just two – Minnesota (16) and Minnesota Duluth (15). We’ll see what happens over the next six or seven weeks, but all indicators point to a wide-open playoff season where any number of teams could make legitimate championship runs.

What The …?: It’s not often that you see a coaching staff or bench assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for working the referees, as the officials usually exercise a degree of restraint to accompany the requisite thick skin required to do the job. That wasn’t the case Sunday at Clarkson, where both benches were whistled for unsportsmanlike minors during the game. Yale’s unsportsmanlike penalty came in overtime, giving Clarkson a power play that the Golden Knights converted for a victory. Whoa.

@TheRoEbOaT9 Garrett Roe

Some people are pretenders and just run from adversity. Especially guys who flake and transfer schools midseason. #bestofluck #kidding

• That tweet from former St. Cloud State forward Garrett Roe was a not-so-veiled shot at sophomore Mitch MacMillan, an ex-teammate of Roe who decided to transfer to North Dakota where his brother, Mark, is a freshman forward. Roe now plays for the Adirondack Phantoms of the American Hockey League. Sure, it’s tough to lose a player to a rival via transfer, but Roe’s objection seems over the top.

DANE WALTERS
Western Michigan
Jr. | F | St. Paul, Minn.

Dane Walters

His Statistics: Five points in the Broncos’ tie and win against Bowling Green, including three goals and an assist in Saturday’s 6-1 win in Kalamazoo.

His Impact: Walters’ play helped Western Michigan launch into the holiday break with a five-game unbeaten streak. He had an assist in the Broncos’ 3-3 tie at Bowling Green Friday, then scored the first hat trick of his college career as WMU routed the Falcons, 6-1, at Lawson Arena.

Though 18 games this season, Walters, one of the Broncos’ assistant captains, leads the team with nine goals, 17 points, and a plus-minus rating of +10. He’s scored five goals and seven points in WMU’s last three games.

His Runners-Up: Michael Colavecchia, RIT; Zach Lehrke, Minnesota State; Patrick McNally, Harvard; Kieran Millan, Boston University

The United States Hockey Hall of Fame enshrined five members on Monday night, including three former college players. Chris Chelios played two years at Wisconsin and one with the United States Olympic team prior to beginning a standout NHL career that spanned parts of 27 seasons during which he won the Norris Trophy three times. Gary Suter played two years at Wisconsin before going on to the Calgary Flames, where he won the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year. He played 1,145 professional games and totaled 845 points. Keith Tkachuk had 40 points in his only season at Boston University and then totaled 1,065 points in his NHL career.

Announcer Mike Emrick is among the best-liked play-by-play men in the business and endears himself even further to college hockey fans by regularly mentioning the schools where NHL players plied their trade before heading to pro hockey. “Doc” earned a master’s degree from Miami and a doctorate degree from Bowling Green.

As always, when compiling the INCH Power Rankings, it gives us a first look ahead at the upcoming schedule. This week, the realization was mostly, “What upcoming schedule?” There are only 10 Division I men’s ice hockey games scheduled for this weekend, plus North Dakota’s exhibition. We understand that semester breaks and finals week at most institutions have something to do with it, but it’s a bit of a tough realization that college hockey fans will have to wait until holiday tournaments for a full slate of action after being treated to a great first few months of the year.

What Happened: Rare are the occasions when college hockey players take part in an actual, gloves-off fight. What took place between coaches from Michigan Tech and Minnesota at Mariucci Arena last Saturday was even more unique.

Chippiness on the ice peaked late in the third period of the Gophers’ 6-2 win—to the tune of 51 minutes in penalties in the last 3:11 of regulation—and that venom spilled over to the benches, sparking a shouting match between Michigan Tech assistant coach Bill Muckalt and Minnesota head coach Don Lucia and assistant Grant Potulny.

“There was some talk going back and forth,” Lucia said Monday on his weekly radio show. “I don’t think that is the way we want to finish a game. I don’t think that is the way they want to finish a game. It is regrettable and hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”

What We’re Watching: In the most recent INCH Podcast, our panel mentioned that Alabama-Huntsville goaltender Clarke Saunders would continue his college hockey career at North Dakota next season. Of course, Saunders made up his mind before new UAH president Robert Altenkirch saved Chargers hockey from the chopping block.

However, the Grand Forks Herald’s Brad Elliott Schlossman reported Monday that despite the reprieve for Alabama-Huntsville, Saunders is following through on his plan to transfer. And according to Schlossman, Saunders will be eligible to play next season since he announced his intention to transfer after UAH opted to drop varsity hockey at the end of this year. At first glance, this development seems insignificant, but it could have a far-reaching impact on not on Alabama-Huntsville but also programs that accept UAH transfers.

What the … ? Great point brought up by INCH’s Hockey East correspondent Kevin Zeise in response to the logo for last weekend’s Festivus Faceoff, the Lake Placid doubleheader featuring Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Union, and Rensselaer—where’s the Festivus pole? In the “Seinfeld” Festivus episode, the pole was integral to the plot. Leaving it out of the logo seems egregious, but, again, credit for naming the event after Festivus in the first place. We might need a Festivus pole, but we don’t need another Holiday Classic.

@2lidgett2quit John Lidgett

Good Luck to the boys on the battle to stay eligible @joewill426 @chriswags23 @Firdogger @UncleLeids @Longer11 @ochoTRON @ClaytonJardine

• For some students at Colgate, the end of the semester means a chance to put the finishing touches on academic excellence. For freshman forward John Lidgett, it’s about encouraging his teammates to meet some minimum standards. Attaboy keeping the main thing the main thing, John, and compliments on your Twitter handle.