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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
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 STEPHANE DA COSTAMerrimack Fr. | F | Paris, France His Statistics: 2 GP, 5-0-5, vs. Holy Cross and Army His Impact: It was a weekend of firsts for Da Costa, a Merrimack freshman who played his first career game on Friday, a Warrior win over Holy Cross. His second game included more spectacular firsts – He scored his first career goal at 3:36 of the first period on the power play and had completed his first hat trick within 10 minutes of his opening goal. His natural hat trick got Merrimack out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. For good measure, Da Costa added two more power-play goals in the game as Merrimack went on to a 6-3 win. It was Merrimack’s first five-goal game in 21 years as a Hockey East school and Da Costa was the first Hockey East player to score five in a game since Brian Gionta did it for Boston College in 2001. His Runners-Up: Matt Beca (Clarkson); J.J. Crew (Western Michigan); John Faulkner (Nebraska-Omaha); Chay Genoway (North Dakota); Cameron Talbot (Alabama Huntsville). The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop |
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| STICK SALUTE | The tour de force that is Alabama-Huntsville starts a six-game homestand this weekend with a series against Western Michigan. The Chargers, who opened the season with split against defending CCHA champion Notre Dame and swept reigning Atlantic Hockey champ Air Force last weekend by identical 4-2 scores, need just two more victories to match their entire win total from last season. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the future of the UAH program, there’s no question UAH has become college hockey’s version of America’s Team. |
| BENCH MINOR | The Minnesota-North Dakota rivalry is intense; that said, there’s a fine line between intensity and stupidity. That line was obliterated Friday in Grand Forks following the Fighting Sioux’s 4-0 win over the Gophers when a Minnesota fan apparently punched a NoDak supporter outside Ralph Engelstad Arena. As of Monday night the target of said punch, Jason Smith, remains in serious condition in a Grand Forks hospital with a fractured skull according to the Grand Forks Herald website. The alleged puncher, Peter Chwialkowski, has been charged with aggravated assualt and is free on $1,000 bond. |
| SAY WHAT? | Credit goes to the great Doyle Woody of the Anchorage Daily News for pointing out this head-scratcher from last weekend’s Brice Alaska Goal Rush in Fairbanks, where Alaska forward Dion Knelsen was named tournament MVP. Granted, Knelsen did score the winning goal in the post-overtime shootout with Rensselaer Saturday (the game is officially a tie for NCAA purposes) but in the hockey action that mattered, Knelsen had one assist and a plus-minus rating of -3 in games against Robert Morris and RPI. Didn’t we learn the lesson in Washington D.C. last April that the last guy to score isn’t necessarily the most outstanding player? |
| RANKINGS OUTRAGE | We mentioned Alabama-Huntsville in our Stick Salute above. So just how did USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine pollsters reward the Chargers for their sweep of Air Force? Air Force and its 0-4-0 record garnered three points in the poll. Alabama-Huntsville, at 3-1-0, got just one. |
| TWEET OF THE WEEK | @MikeMcKenzie11: character win tonight for a home sweep…k flanagan is a special player
(St. Lawrence senior forward Mike McKenzie salutes his teammates and freshman forward Kyle Flanagan after the Saints defeated Niagara on Saturday night.) |
Player of the Week
Feels good to be back, doesn’t it?
We’re trying something different this season in order to get more of a national feel to our early-week coverage before delving into the conference stuff as the weekend nears. Every week, the First Shift will feature INCH’s national Player of the Week, Stick Salute, and Bench Minor. We’ll also take a lighter-hearted look at the weekend that was in our Say What?, Rankings Outrage, and Tweet of the Week segments.
This is a work in progress, to be sure. But unlike Phil Cuzzi, we promise not to miss anything.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
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 RICH PURSLOWNebraska-Omaha Jr. | F | Greenlawn, N.Y.His Statistics: 2 GP, 2-2-4, +3 vs. Army and UMass LowellHis Impact: If the results from this past weekend’s Icebreaker Tournament in Omaha are any indication, Dean Blais’s tenure as the Mavericks’ head coach should be, at the very least, exciting. UNO, which ranked 42nd in the country in scoring offense last season with an average of 2.45 goals per game, exploded for 10 goals in wins against Army and UMass Lowell.Purslow, the Icebreaker MVP, led a balanced scoring attack with a goal and an assist in each of the Mavs’ two wins. He helped set up Terry Broadhurst’s game-winning goal in Friday’s 6-4 decision against Army and sparked UNO’s come-from-behind triumph against the RiverHawks Saturday with a first-period goal less than three minutes after UML jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage. His Runners-Up: Dan Bakela (Bemidji State); Mike Cichy (North Dakota); Scott Greenham (Alaska); Brayden Irwin (Vermont); Dan Morrison (Canisius); Eric Lampe (Quinnipiac); Cameron Talbot (Alabama-Huntsville). The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop |
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| STICK SALUTE | Good on the hockey fans in the Rochester area (7,421 of them, to be exact) for showing up at Blue Cross Arena for Saturday’s Colgate-RIT tilt. The game turned out to be a real treat—the Raiders’ Austin Smith scored a shorthanded goal in the third period to give his team a 3-2 victory. The building’s primary tenant, the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans, averaged a little more than 4,000 fans in 40 home dates last season. |
| BENCH MINOR | The opening weekend wasn’t a high-water mark for the CCHA’s upper echelon. Most notable (and by notable, we mean cringe-worthy) were Notre Dame’s 3-2 loss to Alabama-Huntsville at the Joyce Center Friday, Michigan’s shutout loss to Alaska in Anchorage that same night, and Ohio State’s pair of losses to visiting Quinnipiac, a team picked to finish in the bottom third of ECAC Hockey. |
| SAY WHAT? | “I’m not one who’s going to make a lot of changes when things are working.” — UNO coach Dean Blais to the Omaha World-Herald‘s Chad Purcell following the Mavs’ Icebreaker Tournament championship game win Saturday. But when things aren’t working—especially for a goaltender—Blais gets out the hook quicker than Tony LaRussa. UNO senior Jeremie Dupont learned as much against Army and UMass Lowell, allowing six goals on 20 shots in just under 54 minutes of work. Sophomore John Faulkner earned both wins in relief. |
| RANKINGS OUTRAGE | It’s early and it’s gonna take a while for the national polls to sort themselves out. That said, we’re not sure how Boston College, the 12th-ranked team in this week’s USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today poll, earned one first-place vote. By the way, 27 teams received at least one vote in the same poll. The Alaska Nanooks, who beat Michigan and Mercyhurst at the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage, were not one of them. |
| TWEET OF THE WEEK | @HackswithHaggs: God bless the dude at Angels stadium wearing a Whale T-shirt while waiting in line for a hot dog. What are the odds? |
Notre Dame
Sr. | G | Anchorage, Alaska
His Statistics: 2 wins, 2 shutouts, 60 saves, 0 GA in quarterfinal playoff sweep of Nebraska-Omaha.
His Impact: This marks the fourth straight week in which a goaltender has been named INCH Player of the Week, which reflects quite favorably on the quality of play between the pipes over the past month. And as good as the netminding has been, Pearce may be the best of them all.
His back-to-back shutouts against Nebraska-Omaha this past weekend are part of an amazing five-game run during which the Fighting Irish senior has allowed just one goal while posting a 0.20 goals against average and a .991 save percentage. One of three finalists for CCHA Player of the Year — this in spite of not being named to either the first or second all-league teams — Pearce leads the nation with a 1.62 GAA, 28 wins, and eight shutouts, and his .934 save percentage ranks fifth in the country.
His Runners-Up: Evan Barlow, Cornell; Blake Geffrion, Wisconsin; Jeff Gumaer, Bentley; Matt Read, Bemidji State; Alex Tuckerman, Northeastern
The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop
Brown
Fr. | G | Great Falls, Va.
His Statistics: 2 wins, 2 shutouts, 86 saves, 0 GA in first-round playoff sweep of Harvard.
His Impact: In 120 minutes of hockey action, Clemente wrote his name into the record book on lines that will belong to him for much longer. His back-to-back shutouts helped the Bears, seeded 12th in ECAC Hockey, defeat No. 5 seed Harvard on the road in a first round series. It was the first time that the 12th-place team advanced to the quarterfinals under ECAC Hockey’s current playoff format. Also, the Crimson had never been shutout in back-to-back games in their 111-year history.
Brown advances to the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2005. They last advanced to the ECAC Hockey championship weekend in 2003, when they won a quarterfinal series at Yale. Are the stars aligned? Brown will play at Yale this weekend.
His Runners-Up: Brock Bradford, Boston College; Kevin Clark, Alaska Anchorage; Corey Elkins, Ohio State; Dave Jarman, Sacred Heart; Tyler Schofield, Bemidji State
The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop
St. Lawrence
Jr. | G | Kirkland, Quebec
His Statistics: 2 wins, 2 shutouts, 62 saves, 0 GA at Union and Rensselaer.
His Impact: The Saints needed a little bit of help, but also had to take care of their own business on the latst weekend of the ECAC Hockey regular season. Mission accomplished. Petizian stopped all 31 shots he faced each night as St. Lawrence blanked Union and RPI on the road.
Some say a goalie is a team’s most important penalty killer. In Friday’s win, Union was 0-for-7 on the power play and nine of their 31 shots came with the man advantage. Saturday, Rensselaer was 0-for-6 on the power play with five of 31 total shots coming on the power play.
Those back-to-back wins, and Quinnipiac’s win over Dartmouth on Saturday, helped St. Lawrence finish in fourth place in ECAC Hockey. Their reward is this weekend off, before hosting a quarterfinal series at Appleton Arena March 13-15.
His Runners-Up: Bryce Christiansen, Alaska Anchorage; Brett Hextall, North Dakota; Jason Lawrence, Boston University; Nathan Longpre, Robert Morris; Luke Miller, Holy Cross; Jordan Pearce, Notre Dame
The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop
Bemidji State
So. | G | Clinton, Ontario
His Statistics: 2 wins, 56 saves, 2 GA in a sweep of Niagara.
His Impact: Even though Niagara is still mathematically alive in its quest to win the College Hockey America regular-season championship, Bemidji State effectively sewed up the league crown by sweeping the Purple Eagles at Dwyer Arena last week.
Central to that effort was Dalton, who stopped 26 shots in the Beavers’ 3-1 win Thursday, then came back the following night to make 29 saves in a 4-1 BSU win. The wins at Niagara are just the last two pieces of what has been an impressive stretch run for the sophomore netminder — Dalton has battled back from a four-game midseason losing streak to post a 7-1-1 mark in his last nine starts, and he’s allowed two or fewer goals six times during that span.
Dalton’s overall numbers are solid — he’s 15-9-1 with a 2.29 goals against average and a .917 save percentage — but CHA foes have found him nearly impenetrable. In league games, he’s 11-4-1 with a 1.88 GAA and a .927 save percentage.
His Runners-Up: Tom Fenton, American International; Zane Kalemba, Princeton; James Marcou, Massachusetts; Riley Nash, Cornell; Brian Stewart, Northern Michigan; Patrick Wiercioch, Denver
The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop
Notre Dame
Sr. | F | Livonia, Mich.
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His Statistics: 2-5—7, PPG in the Irish’s weekend sweep of Northern Michigan.
His Impact: Last March, Condra went down with an injury in the Fighting Irish’s first playoff series against Ferris State. His teammates rallied to pick up the slack, propelling Notre Dame to within one game of a national title.
Nearly a year later, the Irish are in first place in the CCHA standings and trying to keep Miami and Michigan at bay as they chase their second league regular-season crown. They’re also hampered by injuries to two of their top offensive threats.
Enter Condra, who helped fill the void by netting two goals and five assists in Notre Dame’s sweep of Northern Michigan at the Joyce Center this past weekend. Five of those points — both goals and three assists — came in Friday’s 9-5 romp. His first assist in Saturday’s 5-2 win was the 150th point of his career, becoming the 14th player in school history to reach that plateau. Condra needs five goals to become the 11th Fighting Irish skater to have career totals of 50 or more goals and 100-plus assists.
His Runners-Up: Ryan Carroll, Harvard; Phil Ginand, Mercyhurst; Brooks Ostergard, Robert Morris; Mark Roebothan, UMass Lowell; Jordan Schroeder, Minnesota
The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop
Wisconsin
Jr. | D | Faribault, Minn.
His Statistics: 2-2—4, PPG, SHG in the Badgers’ weekend sweep of Minnesota.
His Impact: McBain, the Badgers’ leading scorer with 34 points in 30 games, led WIsconsin to an impressive sweep at Minnesota. In the series opener, he sparked his team to a 3-2 win, scoring a shorthanded goal late in a first period that had been dominated by the Gophers. In Saturday’s finale, he set up both of Wisconsin’s first-period goals, then gave the Badgers the lead for good with a power-play marker midway through the first period.
With the wins, Wisconsin, which opened the season with a seven-game winless streak, moved into a tie for first-place in the WCHA standings with Denver. The Badgers’ next games are Feb. 20-21 against the Pioneers in Madison.
His Runners-Up: Kevin Lohry, Princeton; Egor Mironov, Niagara; Matt Pierce, Mercyhurst; Viktor Stalberg, Vermont; Brian Stewart, Northern Michigan
The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop
Yale
Sr. | G | Robbinsdale, Minn.
His Statistics: Richards backstopped Yale to two more victories. He stopped 63 of 64 shots he faced on the weekend in wins over Princeton and Quinnipiac. His shutout of the Bobcats was his second of the season.
His Impact: Yale keeps rolling along and finds different players stepping up every week to make a difference. The latest is senior goalie Alec Richards. He’s been in and out as a starter throughout his career, but after replacing sophomore Ryan Rondeau in a big comeback victory at Colgate, Richards got both starts last weekend and excelled for Yale.
The victories extended Yale’s winning streak to four games and the Bulldogs are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. They’ve moved into a tie for first place with Cornell, and host Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend.
His Runners-Up: Jeff Gumaer, Bentley; Nick Mazzolini, Providence; Taylor Nelson, Ferris State; Vince Rocco, Niagara; Mike Zacharias, Minnesota State
The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop
Clarkson
Sr. | F | Carleton Place, Ontario
His Statistics: Guthrie scored both overtime game-winners for Clarkson as the Golden Knights defeated Union and Rensselaer by identical 4-3 scores. Guthrie added another goal and two assists on the weekend and was a plus-5.
His Impact: It wasn’t long ago that Clarkson languished in last place in ECAC Hockey, but all of a sudden four straight wins have the Golden Knights in seventh place. Senior forward Shea Guthrie has been a major part of that recent turnaround. He scored both overtime goals in Clarkson’s latest victories and has nine points in the team’s last four games.
“Of these past four games, we could have been on the losing end, but we are finding ways to win. Our go-to guys are now difference makers,” Clarkson coach George Roll said. “I can’t say enough good things about the play of Shea Guthrie, Chris D’Alvise and Matt Beca. They have been leading us. If we are going to continue to win, they are the line that has to carry us. They have certainly turned around our season, and theirs.”
His Runners-Up: Jack Connolly, Minnesota Duluth; Riley Gill, Western Michigan; Chris Margott, Robert Morris; Kieran Millan, Boston University; Brett Robinson, Mercyhurst
The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop
