Admit it: you were bewildered when you looked at INCH’s WCHA preview and saw we had St. Cloud State picked for second (behind Denver). Not too many weeks later, when the Huskies were sub-.500 (5-6-2 after losing in Denver the day after Thanksgiving), we were bewildered too.

But, as we’ve said time and time again, you can’t win the WCHA title in November. And if you hang tight through a tough early schedule, knowing there are winnable games ahead, as the Huskies have, you probably can’t lose it then either.

After all of that early season discontent, the Huskies travel to Colorado College this weekend just a point out of the top spot in the league, currently tied for second (with Denver). But with the top five teams in the WCHA just two points apart, St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko doesn’t see a race, he sees a mess.

“There is no first place right now, there’s just a big blob of teams up there, slugging it out,” Motzko said. The meeting with the Tigers in Colorado Springs is important not just for the four points on the line, but for the sake of revenge as well. In mid-December, the Tigers took three of four points from a tired Huskies team in St. Cloud.

While CC is just 2-5-0 in its last seven games, the Huskies haven’t lost since that cold December weekend, having rattled off eight in a row without a loss or tie. The reasons for the rally are many, involving schedules, defensive pairings, goaltending tandems and old-fashioned hard work. But the end result is that with five more weekends of WCHA play ahead, St. Cloud State is fulfilling expectations - INCH’s and their own.

Motzko points first to improvement in the defensive corps as a key to the better results. After experimenting different combinations, he’s settled on the top pairing of captain Garrett Raboin with Chris Hepp, and has liked what he’s seen. The stat sheet shows good things from that duo as well, as Raboin has been freed up to do more, and has all five of goals this season since the holiday break.

“I’m getting into those scoring areas more, from the hashmarks in,” said Raboin, praising Hepp’s defensive tendencies. “I’ve always had some freedom, but (Hepp) has done a nice job of being back there and limiting the other team’s opportunities. I’m definitely not afraid to take a chance, if there’s an opportunity there.”

In contrast to October and November, in Raboin (who was named the WCHA’s Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday), Motzko sees a completely different player wearing the C these days.

“He played like the whole weight of the world was on his shoulders in the first part of the year, and was doing a lot of things that were out of character,” Motzko said. “It’s no coincidence that our little run has happened at the same time as he’s started scoring more and playing more to his strengths.”

Behind Raboin and Hepp is the effective defensive duo of Oliver Lauridsen and surprising freshman Taylor Johnson. And behind them is one of two emerging goalies that have made a huge difference for the Huskies.

With the opportunity to win a gold medal at the World Junior Championships looming in the first half of the season, it was understandable if Huskies freshman goalie Mike Lee may have been a little mentally preoccupied. Since Lee has returned from Saskatchewan, he and Dan Dunn have settled into a rotation which has quickly become the most effective goalie tandem in the league. Since opening the season with an overtime loss at Miami (Ohio), Dunn has only lost once, while Lee has become the Huskies regular Saturday night netminder and is producing great results as well.

Those results were seen by many on last weekend. After going 0-6-0 versus Minnesota last season, the Huskies got a measure of revenge and four important points in sweeping a home-and-home series from the Golden Gophers. True to his low-key nature, the coach focused on the wins, and not the opponent.

“It was one weekend in a long season, but anytime you get two wins in a weekend in this league, it’s like finding a piece of gold,” Motzko said. “Last year there was not good chemistry and they clobbered us. This was our year, but it’s not over yet.”

As opposed to the first half of the season, which had the Huskies on the road to Miami (Ohio), Michigan Tech, North Dakota and Alaska Anchorage, the road in has been more favorable. After the series at Colorado College, the Huskies come home for their next four WCHA games - two each with Alaska Anchorage and North Dakota - before a sure-to-be critical trip to Wisconsin. They’re solidly in that “blob” of contenders and have an opportunity to win the school’s first-ever MacNaughton Cup. But coach and players are focused on the near future, not what, with more wins, may come in March.

“There’s a lot of season left,” said assistant captain Aaron Marvin. “The road trips are always tough, and CC is always tough. You look at this league and it doesn’t really matter who you’re playing, you know it’s going to be a battle.”

And after a slower-than-expected start, these Huskies are in the thick of the dogfight.

BEST VERSUS BEST, REST VERSUS REST

There is interesting schedule symmetry in the WCHA this weekend, with the best playing the best, and the lower-rung teams facing off head-to-head as well. In Houghton, the ninth- and 10th-place teams meet with Minnesota State visiting Michigan Tech, while eight hosts seven in Anchorage as Minnesota visits the Seawolves.

Then, up where the air is rare, we have North Dakota (currently sixth) hosting second-place Denver. We have the other second-place team, St. Cloud State, visiting Colorado College, which is in a toe for fourth place with Wisconsin. And the Badgers make what may be their last trip to the DECC, to face league-leading Minnesota Duluth.

The league’s schedulers could hardly have planned things better for the sake of drama and standings intrigue.

EARPLUG TIME AT THE RALPH?

This weekend will be Denver’s first visit to North Dakota since last year at about this time, when the Fighting Sioux got a sweep, and four very important points en route to winning the MacNaughton Cup. That was also the weekend that Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky, after an on-ice fracas, made his now-legendary stroll across the ice to speak to the officials, on his way to an ejection.

Needless to say, some Sioux fans have been saving some choice words for coach Gwoz for a long time, eagerly anticipating his return. We’re sure there will be the standard pre-game announcements warning against the use of “foul and abusive language” by fans and threatening ejection for same. We wonder, if ushers stringently enforce that threat, will there be any Sioux fans left in the building by the third period?

It’s looking like a frigid weekend for much of college hockey country, but it likely won’t keep people away from the rink … at least not with series like the ones we chose to feature in this week’s INCH Friday Four-cast on tap.

Denver at North Dakota (Friday-Saturday): If nothing else, this weekend’s series in Grand Forks will provide a look at the resiliency of these two teams. The Fighting Sioux—in the midst of grueling seven-week stretch during which they’ve faced or will face Minnesota, Cornell, Denver, St. Cloud State, Minnesota Duluth, and Colorado College—are trying to get back into the top half of the WCHA standings. The Pioneers were clipped by Wisconsin in Madison, getting just one point from the Badgers.

Denver’s healthier and has the edge in goal with Marc Cheverie (pictured), but consecutive high-stakes series at unfriendly venues like Wisconsin and North Dakota can be mentally draining. And you can bet that the Engelstad Arena crowd, which hasn’t seen the Sioux play at home in three weeks, will be at a fever pitch for this series.

St. Lawrence at Cornell (Friday); Union at Yale (Friday): The top four teams in ECAC Hockey line up against each other Friday night and have an opportunity to shake up the top of the league standings. First-place Union leads by a single point over three second-place teams in Yale, St. Lawrence, and Cornell.

Yale hosts Union at Ingalls Rink. These teams tied in the first meeting of the year back in early November in Schenectady, but the Bulldogs have a chance to hold serve in their barn this weekend. Yale is just 2-2-0 in its last four league games and Union suffered its first two conference defeats last weekend on home ice.

Cornell and St. Lawrence played to a 1-1 tie two weeks ago and will meet again at raucous Lynah Rink. The Saints have surged into second place and are among the title contenders after going 4-0-2 in their last six conference games. The Big Red are also 4-0-2 in their last six ECAC Hockey games and earned a difficult split at home last weekend against North Dakota.

Michigan vs. Michigan State (Friday at East Lansing, Saturday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit): Interesting that word of a Cold War redux in Ann Arbor in December broke Thursday; while the granddaddy of outdoor hockey games was all about spectacle and rivalry, the Spartans and Wolverines head into this weekend’s games focused inward.

Michigan State is on track to earn a CCHA first-round playoff, but the Spartans are just 1-2-2 in their last five games. Defense has become a bit of an issue; the Spartans have allowed 18 goals in their last five matches after giving up a total of 10 goals in seven games from Dec. 4-Jan. 8. Michigan, meanwhile, is in seventh place in the conference standings but just four points out of fourth place and the final opening-round bye. The Wolverines, who are 4-1-1 this month with the lone loss coming last weekend at Ferris State, are searching for offensive consistency.

BEANPOT SEMIFINALS, Harvard vs. Boston College, 5 p.m.; Northeastern vs. Boston University, 8 p.m. (Monday): The first Monday in February means the return of college hockey to Boston’s downtown arena. This year’s semifinal games match last year’s second day schedule when BC and Harvard played in the third-place tilt and BU defeated Northeastern in the tournament final—BU’s 29th Beanpot title.

This season hasn’t gone according to plan for the defending national champion Terriers, currently in sixth place in Hockey East, can use what has been unofficially dubbed the “Terrier Invitational” as a second-half spark plug. BC has won just twice in seven games since the calendar turned to 2010 and has lost twice to BU in that span. Harvard comes into the Beanpot as the hottest team among the four, with a 3-0-1 record in their last four, including wins over nationally-ranked Yale and Union. Northeastern is the only team of the four Beanpot participants that has a tournament title to its credit this year. The Huskies started 2010 by capturing the Ledyard Bank Classic at Dartmouth.

Also: Huge weekend in the WCHA—in addition to Denver at North Dakota, St. Cloud State travels to Colorado College and Wisconsin is at Minnesota Duluth. … Robert Morris travels to Bemidji State in a College Hockey America showdown featuring teams responsible for 75 percent of Miami’s losses this season. … Ferris State scored 14 goals in two games against Ohio State in Big Rapids in November. The two teams meet again this weekend in Columbus. … Scott Darling should be back in goal this weekend for Maine as the Black Bears take on Vermont in a key Hockey East series.

TV Schedule | INCH Pick ‘Em

Travis Vermeulen has set career-highs for goals and points as a senior.

TRAVIS VERMEULEN
St. Lawrence
Sr. | F | Centerville, Minn.

His Statistics: 2 GP, 2-4-6, GWG, +3 rating

His Impact: Vermeulen recorded a point on six of St. Lawrence’s nine goals over the weekend and helped lead the Saints into a three-way tie for second place in ECAC Hockey. He had two assists in the Saints’ 5-2 win over Brown on Friday and then came back with two goals and two assists in an important 4-2 win over Yale on Saturday at Appleton Arena.

Vermeulen’s huge night against defending league-champion Yale included a strong start in the first period. He assisted SLU’s opener and then scored less than three minutes later as the Saints held a 2-0 lead. Yale rallied back to tie it in the first minute of the third period, but Vermeulen scored the eventual game-winning goal at 11:00 of the period. He then assisted on an insurance tally with 1:52 remaining.

The senior forward leads St. Lawrence in scoring with 11 goals and 24 points but hasn’t been counted on for offensive production throughout his collegiate career. He started the year with just 42 career points. That’s not to discount his contributions over the last three and a half seasons. Saints coach Joe Marsh told the Watertown Daily Times, “He’s the best defensive forward I’ve ever coached. He brings it every single night.”

His Runners Up: Michael Davies, Wisconsin; Brian Foster, New Hampshire; Dave Jarman, Sacred Heart; Ian Lowe, Bemidji State; Brandon Richardson, Nebraska-Omaha

The INCH Player of the Week is brought to you by The INCH Shop.

This weekend’s Denver-Wisconsin series lived up to its advance billing; it was a well-played, intense, highly entertaining affair between two legitimate national championship contenders in a playoff atmosphere. If the two games at the Kohl Center are an indicator, put our names on the list of those who’d like to see a rematch in March or April.

Generally speaking, last weekend wasn’t a great one for teams in the INCH Power Rankings. Of the 20 teams currently ranked, only St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, New Hampshire, UMass Lowell and newcomer St. Lawrence managed two wins. Five ranked teams, meanwhile, were winless-Boston College, Minnesota Duluth, and Union were swept outright, while Denver and Lake Superior State salvaged only ties against Wisconsin and Notre Dame, respectively.

“This guy has never had any coaching (at the University of Michigan). … Michigan is the worst. For hockey people, if you’ve got a choice between a kid-all things being equal-one’s going to Michigan and one’s going to Boston University, you all want your player (going to Boston University). … Red (Berenson) doesn’t coach. It’s ‘do what you want.’”

Asked about the maturation of defenseman Jack Johnson, Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi blasted Johnson, Berenson, and the Michigan program during a wide-ranging Q&A with Hockeytalk.biz blogger Gann Matsuda. The comments set the hockey world abuzz, and compelled Johnson to defend Berenson and the Michigan program. When asked about the comments a few days after they became public, Lombardi blamed Matsuda for taking his quotes out of context.

Maybe Lombardi is right-there exists anecdotal evidence that a fair share of high-profile ex-Wolverines (Andrew Cogliano, Al Montoya, and Jeff Tambellini, for example) haven’t panned out, but the flip side is that a number of lesser-heralded Michigan prospects have far exceeded expectations (think Matt Hunwick, David Moss, and Jed Ortmayer)-and he’s entitled to his opinion. But to make such statements and claiming his words were taken out of context is bush league.

An oddity in this week’s voter-driven rankings regarding Cornell and North Dakota, who split a series at Lynah Rink last weekend. In the USCHO.com poll, both the Fighting Sioux and Big Red edged up one spot to fourth and eighth, respectively. In the USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today poll, however-a poll in which INCH casts a ballot weekly-the Fighting Sioux moved up one spot to fourth while the Big Red fell one rung from seventh to eighth. It’s nothing to get mad about (unless you’re a Cornell fan, perhaps) but it’s fascinating how two different groups of voters interpret the same results.

@SchlossmanGF - In Lynah Rink. It’s freezing in here.

@undsid - In Lynah Rink. It’s freezing in here. @SchlossmanGF: Stop whining!

@SchlossmanGF - @INCH_Gladdy Strange that two guys from North Dakota are complaining about the cold?

The Tweets of the Week share some levity from Grand Forks Herald beat writer Brad Schlossman and North Dakota media relations director Jayson Hajdu. Here are a couple of guys who wake up to sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures throughout the winter and got the chills in a 40-50 degree hockey rink.

The bigger picture is that one of the ideas for this week’s Stick Salute was to raise the branches to North Dakota’s willingness to travel east and set up a very good series between two very good teams. We understand that several high-profile Western teams have big rinks and big financial responsibilities to their athletic departments. That being said, North Dakota has made a commitment to get on the plane and play non-league games against prominent Eastern-based teams. Last year, it was the IceBreaker Tournament at BU with another game against UMass. This year, a trip to Cornell; and next year the Sioux embark on a two-game series at Maine.

Yes, it’s generally nasty cold and sometimes miserable on the wind-swept northern plains at this time of year. But there’s an air of quiet resolve that many veterans of multiple North Dakota winters adopt around this time of year. The bad weather happens every year, it’s predictable, it’s inevitable, and everyone else is just as cold and miserable as you are, so there’s no point in complaining about it.

With regard to key injuries, a similar attitude can be found among the members of North Dakota’s most popular hockey team these days. When things go poorly on the ice, as they did last weekend when the Fighting Sioux suffered a come-from-ahead tie and a loss at Minnesota, it would be easy to talk about the players currently out due to a variety of ailments. That’s not what you hear from North Dakota.

“We’ve got real good character in our locker room,” Sioux coach Dave Hakstol said. “Now, if you want to take out Chay Genoway, he’s arguably our best player. Brett Hextall is a pretty good player. We’ve got a couple depth players out. Does that change the makeup of our roster? Yeah. Does that change our expectations? No. We expect to win.”

And prior to the mostly-unpleasant visit to Minneapolis, wins hadn’t been lacking for the Sioux. Star defenseman Genoway was lost to a concussion on Nov. 13 after a hard check from behind in a win over St. Cloud State, and has not returned. As the season wears on, it’s looking more likely that he will sit out the year and try to return again in 2010-11 with a medical redshirt. In the wake of Genoway’s injury, the Sioux went through a 2-6-2 stretch, but had seemingly righted the ship by the time they got to Mariucci. Over the holidays, while star freshman Danny Kristo was off winning gold in Saskatchewan, North Dakota beat Niagara and tied Notre Dame at the Shillelagh tournament near Chicago.

Back in WCHA play, the Sioux swept Minnesota State to stay solidly in the hunt for home ice. But the one-point weekend at Minnesota was a blow - especially Saturday’s 5-1 loss in which the Sioux controlled long stretches of the game, but were at a loss in solving Gopher goalie Alex Kangas.

“In the second period we more than carried the play. We probably had eight to 10 quality chances, we just couldn’t get one to go,” Hakstol said afterward. “We absolutely had more of the play and the better of the play tonight. But that’s not what counts. The scoreboard counts.”

Hextall had moved into a tie for the team lead in goals when he suffered a lower body injury in the Illinois tournament, and is expected to be out for a month. But the members of the current lineup, while acknowledging the missing pieces, say that there are opportunities for new faces to step up.

“Those guys bring a lot to the table,” said sophomore forward David Toews. “We miss both of those guys, but we have a lot of guys that can play roles and jump into those spots. We have to learn from those experiences. We might have problems with injuries down the road, so we just have to keep playing.”

Toews and others admit that consistency, or a lack thereof, has been the team’s biggest problem since Genoway and Hextall have been sidelined.

“Everybody on this team knows that they’ve got to do, what role they play,” said senior Darcy Zajac. “It’s just doing that every night on a consistent basis. Some nights we let up, myself included, and maybe aren’t as ready to go. But I don’t think the character has changed.”

Akin to when bitter cold weather follows a North Dakota blizzard, it just so happens that the injury bug has bitten hardest while the Sioux are playing through perhaps their toughest schedule run of the season. Interspersed among the road trips to Minnesota, Cornell, St. Cloud State and Colorado College are home series with top-ranked Denver and league-leading Minnesota Duluth. But if you want to hear them complain, you’re going to have to listen closely.

“Tough stretch,” said Hakstol, turning to head for his team’s locker room and a lengthy bus ride home. “We’ve got to find a way to get through it with a little bit short of a lineup.”

The road is long, the winter is cold, and the injuries present a challenge. And if you’re waiting to hear the Sioux use any of that as an excuse, you’ll be here until summer.

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS AT CAMP RANDALL

It’s sure to be interesting when Denver battles Wisconsin at the Kohl Center this weekend. And a few blocks away, preparation has begun for another interesting Badger game set for Super Bowl weekend. This weekend, contruction crews will begin the process of transforming Camp Randall Stadium (the 80,000-seat home of the Badger football team) into a hockey rink.

Fans will be able to follow the progress on a live video stream on the University of Wisconsin’s athletics web site as they build the playing surface’s foundation, put up the boards and flood the rink. For the less-patient fans out there, they’ll also show a time-lapse video of the whole process once it is complete.

On Feb. 6 the Badger women’s team will host Bemidji State and the men will face Michigan at the football stadium. The Badgers are 1-0 all-time on the gridiron, having beaten Ohio State at Lambeau Field in Green Bay four years ago.

Good seats for the games are still available.

FONDLY RECALLING ‘HEAVY METAL HOCKEY’

The news in WCHA country this week that Minnesota native (and occasional purple-wearer) Prince was recording a special song meant to fire up the Vikings in advance of the NFC championship game had us thinking back 23 years, and North Dakota’s run to the 1987 NCAA title.

Long before the video and audio technology of today, when every laptop is a studio, a rabid North Dakota fan who called himself Mr. Placebo put together a musical tribute to his favorite team entitled “Heavy Metal Hockey.” The folks at WDAZ-TV in Grand Forks added video to the music, featuring the on-ice exploits of stars like Ed Belfour, Bob Joyce, Ian Kidd and that year’s Hobey winner, Tony Hrkac. Plus, the shots of coach Gino Gasparini behind the bench in his “just won the Masters” green jacket are priceless.

The music is definitely 1987 quality, and the lyrics are, ahem, interesting in spots (”The Sioux can sweep the Gophers; They can beat the Bostons too!”) but for a homemade music video, it’s worth a look.

Several key conference games make this mid-January weekend particularly relevant in terms of league standings. We also highlight a cross-regional matchup between teams heading in opposite directions.

Miami at Ferris State (Friday-Saturday)

Blair Riley scored two of Ferris State's three goals in a November series against Miami.

The odds-on CCHA preseason favorites meet up with this year’s surprise story this weekend with plenty to decide in the standings. The RedHawks and Bulldogs enter the weekend tied for first place with 34 points in 14 conference games. Momentum will be the story in Friday’s series opener as the RedHawks enter the game on the heels of dropping two games to lightly-regarded Robert Morris while Ferris State dominated the third period in each of its two wins last weekend over Notre Dame.

These teams met two months ago in Oxford, Ohio and couldn’t settle things after 65 minutes of hockey each night. The visiting Bulldogs earned bonus standings points through the shootout after each tie and some Ferris State fans described the weekend as a sweep. This weekend on home ice they’ll get the opportunity to pursue such an achievement in a more traditional manner.

Wisconsin at Colorado College (Friday-Saturday)

It’s a chance for the homestanding Tigers to get back on track after last week’s sweep at the hands of Minnesota Duluth, and for the Badgers to solidify their chase of the MacNaughton Cup. CC won six straight games in November, but is just 2-5-2 since then.

Wisconsin is five points behind first-place Denver with two games in hand, and is just a point behind fourth-place CC despite having played two fewer games. This will be the first meaningful hockey for the boys from Madison since winning the Badger Showdown title two weeks ago. Last week’s slate included an exhibition against the US NTDP Under-18s and several key Badgers rested for that one. They will get a boost in the lineup as Derek Stepan, John Ramage and Jake Gardiner return to the lineup after winning gold for the United State at the World Junior Championship.

Massachusetts vs. UMass Lowell (Fri. at UMass; Sat. at Lowell)

This in-state rivalry doesn’t get the notoriety of BC-BU or UNH-Maine within Hockey East circles but it means plenty to the fans, students, alumni and teams that are involved. This weekend it also means a great deal in the Hockey East standings. Since almost nothing was determined in the first half of the Hockey East season, this is a big chance for one of these teams to make a big jump in the standings and get some quality wins in terms of NCAA Tournament criteria.

These teams are currently tied for fourth place in Hockey East with 14 points, though UMass Lowell has played one fewer game. They met once earlier this year, a 5-3 win for Lowell on home ice that saw the River Hawks rally from a two-goal deficit.

St. Cloud State at Quinnipiac (Friday-Saturday)

This is a classic meeting of teams headed in different directions. The St. Cloud State Huskies have put together a solid run of four straight victories and are 7-1-1 in their last nine contests. They’ve vaulted to third place in the WCHA and have outscored their opponents 19-7 in their four-game win streak. Of course, those four wins came against Brown and Michigan Tech. This week’s tests at Quinnipiac will be tougher, even though the Bobcats are skidding. After starting 12-1-0 and moving into the top 10 of the national polls, Quinnipiac is just 1-6-1 since then and has lost six straight conference outings to lose their grasp on first place. This weekend’s games against St. Cloud State and next week’s tilts against Niagara are a good opportunity for the Bobcats to right the ship before the home stretch in ECAC Hockey play.

Also: One of the WCHA’s best rivalries resumes in Minneapolis when North Dakota visits Minnesota for two … Boston College hosts Maine Friday night in a meeting of top teams in Hockey East … Union, atop ECAC Hockey, hosts travel partner Rensselaer Saturday in a highly-contested rivalry that has already featured three very good games this season … Michigan State and Notre Dame will play a home-and-home in the CCHA and Michigan hosts Alaska for a pair at Yost.

TV Schedule | INCH Pick ‘Em

There’s been plenty of talk about hockey coaches from Michigan Tech in the early days of the new decade. The exciting news of former Husky player Davis Payne landing behind the St. Louis Blues bench was tempered by the sad news that Amo Bessone - who coached the Huskies for three seasons before becoming a legend at Michigan State - had passed. And in some circles, there have been no shortage of discouraging words written about the Huskies’ current coach too.

If you are a fan frustrated by Michigan Tech’s recently-concluded 12-game losing streak, and you were thinking of buying the web address www.firejamierussell.com to send their coach a message, you needn’t bother. The Huskies’ head man lives and works in one of college hockey’s smaller and more hockey-knowledgeable communities, and he’s heard the grumbling firsthand. None of it is enough to get him dwelling on past struggles instead of focusing on future promise.

Yes, there are message boards and anonymous folks posting unkind words, calling for the seventh-year coach’s head. He doesn’t care.

“I don’t read a lot of credibility into that,” Russell said. “Who knows who any of these people are and if they have any hockey knowledge at all. To get bothered about the comments of someone who won’t even put their name to them is just a waste of my time.”

But Russell admits in the close-knit communities of Houghton and Hancock, he’s heard grumbling up close, and his boss, athletic director Suzanne Sanregret has felt some pressure.

“Nobody feels worse about that than me,” Russell said. Still, if you think he wants to get out of town to flee the heat of fans’ frustrations, you apparently haven’t glanced at Tech’s schedule.

No, the Huskies did not come out for their 1-1 home tie with Northern Michigan this week wearing their road sweaters. Although out of past habit, they might have expected to do so. Tuesday’s game was just their third time on home ice since Nov. 13, which, incidentally, was the date of their last win.

Brett Olson leads Michigan Tech in goals and points.

But with eight of their next 10 games at McInnes Student Ice Arena, and some encouraging signs that there is hope for this young team, there’s definite hope in the Huskies’ attitudes.

“We’re excited to have a chance to play some games at home, and we could use it right now,” said sophomore center Brett Olson, who leads the team in goals (9) and points (18). “Sitting in hotel rooms got a little old. It’s nice not to have to order room service.”

As was expected, Olson and senior Malcolm Gwilliam, have led the way offensively. What was not expected was the doldrums Jordan Baker has been mired in all season. After leading Tech with 27 points a year ago, Baker has just seven points in his junior season. Russell described a 2-on-1 break versus Northern Michigan where Baker was fed a beautiful pass for a shot at a yawning net, and promptly clanked the goalpost, indicative of the way he’s been snake bitten in 2009-10.

“He’s handled it pretty well,” said Olson of Baker’s offensive slump. “Jordan seems like he’s finding a groove and getting some nice chances. He’s definitely starting to get out of it.”

As for getting the team out of its two-month funk, the hard-driving Russell says one key has been keeping things fun, focusing on the positives and making sure the Huskies still have fun when they come to the rink. Ever the optimist, he points to the recent return to the lineup of junior forward Eric Kattelus, who was suspended for the first half of the season, as sign of good things to come. A bigger concern than the offense has been in goal, where neither sophomore Josh Robinson nor freshman Eric Genoe sports a saves percentage above .900.

In team video sessions, Russell and his assistants have focused on positives, pointing out good plays no matter what the final score has been. Olson says you can see from the numbers which show Tech taking 30 shots or more on goal in their past two games that pucks are getting though to the net, and they’re learning to play more puck possession hockey in the offensive zone - signs that good things may be building, and a second consecutive finish in the WCHA’s basement is not a foregone conclusion.

“We definitely have a hill to climb, but for us it’s a new start,” Olson said, anticipating the weekend home series with Alaska Anchorage. “We’re definitely looking forward to this weekend and the next few weeks.”

CLOSE-KNIT BUNCH IN WCHA

One of the more interesting stats we saw this week noted that of the 83 games played between WCHA teams thus far, 50 of them have been decided by two goals or fewer. There have been 33 games with a three-plus goal differential, 11 two-goal games, 27 one-goal games and a dozen ties.

HUSKY POND HOPPING

While Michigan Tech coaches and players are glad to be home for a few weeks, they’re looking forward to one upcoming extended road trip. The Huskies recently announced plans for a 10-day, five-game trip to Germany and Austria this coming August.

The itinerary has them arriving in Munich on Aug. 13 and playing five games versus German and Austrian professional teams, before returning to Michigan on Aug. 21. Under NCAA rules, which allow teams to take one overseas trip every four years, the team is allowed to take academically eligible current players - no incoming freshmen or players who have signed a professional contract.

Tech assistant coach Pat Mikesch played professionally in the Deutsche Elite League for five years and helped arrange the trip thanks to his close ties to several German teams. He has been working with another former Husky, Jay Luknowsky, who is a player agent in Europe.

Private donations are funding the entire trip, including a sizeable contribution from Jordan Baker’s father, David.

Ostergard stole the show against Miami.

BROOKS OSTERGARD
Robert Morris
So. | G | Chagrin Falls, Ohio

His Statistics: 2 GP, 2-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .975 save pct.

His Impact: The sophomore goalie for Robert Morris was at his best this weekend in helping the Colonials to a pair of victories over previously top-ranked Miami. In Friday’s game at Mellon Arena, home of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, Ostergard made 39 saves and allowed just a power-play goal in a 3-1 win.

Sunday in Oxford, Ohio, Ostergard stopped 38 Miami shots and again was only beaten by a power-play goal. He made 14 saves in the third period when the Colonials were protecting their 2-1 lead, which held up as the final margin.

Ostergard was named First Star of the game after both wins. For the season he has a 4-9-21 record in 17 games with a .907 save percentage and 3.43 goals-against average.

His Runners-Up: Bobby Butler, New Hampshire; Brandon Coccimiglio, Mercyhurst; Mike Connolly, Minnesota Duluth; Mike Embach, Ferris State; Allan York, Rensselaer

There were a lot of impressive visuals from Fenway Park over the last two weeks when a hockey rink was built on the famous baseball ground and hosted a number of hockey events. When Boston University and Boston College took the ice on Friday night, our initial reaction was being overwhelmingly impressed by the special sweaters worn by the BU Terriers.

The font on front resembled that worn by the Boston Red Sox on their home jerseys, and the hanging skates shoulder-patch tribute to the Red Sox’ alternate logo was a particular fitting touch. The design was almost entirely the idea of head coach Jack Parker, as the Terriers used to wear warm-up jackets with a similar font in the late-1980s and early-1990s. He and equipment manager Mike DiMella worked with some of the team’s equipment providers to make the vision a reality. And if you’re hoping to get your hands on one … too bad. The idea behind the special design was so that the team members would always have something to hold on to and remember the experience.

We understand that people tend to think their own little corner of the world is the best there is, but sometimes that provincialism can be a bit misguided. Take Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo, for example, who, in the afterglow of the NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park earlier this month, was prepared to lobby the league to have the event in Beantown every year. The notion was quickly shot down by NHL brass.

Fenway is one-of-a-kind setting and the Winter Classic certainly benefited from the aura surrounding the venerable ballpark, but suggesting the event should be permanently housed in Boston is a disservice to the cities that have hosted the Winter Classic in the past as well as those poised to host it in the future.

“I was a little smarter than he was. I gave my gold to my mom.”

Wisconsin sophomore defenseman Jake Gardiner, a member of the U.S. team that won first place at last week’s IIHF World Junior Championship, wisely sent his hardware home to suburban Minneapolis with his family following the tournament’s conclusion.

The U.S. team captain and Gardiner’s Badger teammate, forward Derek Stepan, planned on toting his medal back to Madison. The bauble went AWOL, however, when the airline lost his luggage. Fortunately, the bag and the medal showed up a couple days later unharmed.

Miami must have fostered a heaping helping of goodwill with poll voters somewhere, because the RedHawks managed to drop just one spot to second place in both the USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today and USCHO.com polls despite managing a total of two goals in a pair of losses to Robert Morris, a team that entered the weekend series in the throes of a nine-game winless streak and hadn’t won consecutive games all season.

That the RedHawks only managed to score twice in 120 minutes against the Colonials is even more troubling (or impressive, depending on your perspective) given the fact that RMU ranks 54th among the 58 Division I teams in scoring defense, allowing an average of 3.75 goals per game, and ranks 52nd in penalty killing success rate.

@evalois What we learned yesterday? Defense, not defence, wins games. #wjc

http://twitter.com/evalois/status/7445063437

Similarities outnumber differences between Canada and the United States, but last Tuesday they seemed a world away, something a Toronto-based newspaper editor captured with this tweet. The World Junior Championship gold medal game was the most watched show in the history of TSN, Canada’s ESPN, while ESPN itself could barely mention it. Don Cherry later dismissed the result as USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program manufacturing a triumph over Canada’s natural superiority in the sport.

Whatever the rest of the United States’ interest was, the college hockey world watched with great interest as the Americans - including 11 current college players - upset the five-time defending champions. Team USA’s win was a source of great pride - and bragging rights throughout campus locker rooms populated by both American and Canadian players.

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The first weekend following the holiday break always seems like kind of a strange one. No one’s completely back into their routines yet—a lot of schools still aren’t in session yet—so there’s still a lingering vacation feel. Think of it as a transition week, one that sets us up for the six-week grind during which the league races really heat up.

But back to this weekend. Some teams jump right back into conference play, while others are engaged in non-conference action. Then there’s Boston College and Boston University, who venture outside for a game.

Ben Smith and Boston College have played Boston University plenty of times, but not in a venue like Fenway.

Boston College vs. Boston University (Friday at Fenway Park): Seeing these two teams play in Fenway is like seeing Springsteen perform during halftime of the Super Bowl—you get a sense of what the full show would be like, but the unique setting creates some limitations. Analyzing what could happen is futile, since no one can predict how either team will react in this highly charged environment.

There’s no question it’ll be a great scene, what with two bitter rivals clashing in front of more than 30,000 fans in one of the most hallowed sports venues in the world. As for the hockey itself,it’s not a stretch to say that the spate of outdoor games have hardly been memorable. When Michigan and Michigan State met in East Lansing in 2001, the play wasn’t sloppy, per se, but it did lack a certain flow.

Perhaps the biggest irony of the large-scale productions meant to celebrate the game of hockey is that the on-ice product is hardly worth celebrating.

Rensselaer and Union at Quinnipiac and Princeton: This weekend’s travel-partner set features four teams with intriguing mid-season storylines. Quinnipiac won 12 of its first 13 games but have gone just 1-4-1 in six games since then, and the lone victory came over American International. The Bobcats host RPI Friday night and Union Saturday. It’s the start of a stretch of eight home games in their next nine overall, and the Bobcats are a perfect 8-0-0 at home, a good time for them to get back on track.

Princeton had a disappointing first half but seems to be getting things back on track. They tied Maine and beat Cornell at the Florida College Classic and defeated Quinnipiac in overtime earlier this week on the strength of a Dan Bartlett hat trick. It total, Princeton carries a four-game unbeaten streak into the weekend and may be playing to its potential. The Tigers host Union on Friday night and RPI Sunday afternoon in an ESPNU-televised game, beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

RPI finished second at the Great Lakes Invitational by defeating Michigan in the semifinals before falling to Michigan State in the championship. Of course, they played those games without freshman forward Jerry D’Amigo, who helped the United States to a gold medal at the World Junior Championship. D’Amigo won’t play in Friday’s game at Quinnipiac as he recovers from the grueling international duty, but expects to be in the lineup for the televised game Sunday at Princeton.

Union has lost just once in its last 13 games (8-1-4) and that defeat came at the hands of nationally ranked Massachusetts. The Dutchmen are undefeated in league play with a 4-0-3 ECAC Hockey record, and stand just three points behind first-place Quinnipiac despite having played four fewer league games. Those teams meet on Saturday.

Ferris State at Notre Dame (Saturday-Sunday): The eight-game Ferris State Reality Tour (as in, are the Bulldogs for real?) continues this weekend with its third and fourth legs at the Joyce Center. The jury’s still out on Ferris after last week’s performance in Madison in the Badger Hockey Showdown—coach Bob Daniels’ team was rocked by Yale, but recovered to beat Merrimack, 5-1.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, showed some spark in a win against Colgate and tie with North Dakota at the Shillelagh Tournament in suburban Chicago. The Irish are in the midst of an important stretch of games as well, with series against Michigan State and surprising Lake Superior State on the horizon.

Colorado College at Minnesota Duluth (Friday-Saturday): These two teams split a series in Colorado Springs earlier this season, not suprising considering how evenly matched they are. Both the Bulldogs and Tigers have played 20 games, and both have scored 70 goals this season. Both have scored 49 goals in 14 league matches. Both have 12 overall wins and eight in the WCHA, but two points separate them in the conference standings; CC has two fewer losses and two more ties than UMD.

Both teams would also like to bounce back from disappointing losses during the holidays. The Tigers beat an excellent Cornell squad in the first round of the Florida College Classic, but allowed two third-period goals to Maine en route to a 3-2 loss in the tournament championship. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, throttled Mercyhurst in the first round of the Catamount Cup last week before host Vermont handed them a 5-2 loss in the title game.

Also: Bentley, fresh off wins against UConn and UMass at last week’s UConn holiday tournament, hosts Canisius in the week’s marquee series in Atlantic Hockey. … Only two CCHA teams have more goals this season than Lake Superior State. The Lakers, currently in fifth place in the league, head to East Lansing to face second-place Michigan State. … Important weekend for current Hockey East leader New Hampshire. The Wildcats host UMass Lowell Friday and UMass Saturday.

TV Schedule (all times Eastern): Friday—Boston College vs. Boston University, NESN and NHL Network, 7:30 p.m.; Lake Superior State at Michigan State, Fox Sports Net Detroit, 7:30 p.m.; Connecticut at Air Force, CBS College Sports, 8 p.m.; Harvard at Minnesota, Fox Sports Net North, 8 p.m.; Minnesota State at North Dakota, Fox College Sports, 8:30 p.m.; Alaska Anchorage at Denver, Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday—UMass Lowell at Northeastern, NESN, 7:30 p.m.; Minnesota State at North Dakota, Fox College Sports, 8 p.m.; Alaska Anchorage at Denver, Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain, 9 p.m.; Harvard at Minnesota, Fox Sports Net North, tape delay TBA.

Sunday—Rensselaer at Princeton, ESPNU, 3 p.m.; Massachusetts at Northeastern, ESPNU, 8 p.m.

Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves was in a jovial mood Wednesday, offering words of congratulations (spiked with a barely-detectable touch of envy) to his once-and-future WCHA rival, Dean Blais. Less than 24 hours earlier, Blais became just the second coach to lead Team USA to a gold medal in the IIHF World Junior Championships. You’ll recall that in 2004, Eaves became the first American coach to bring the top prize home.

But the Badgers skipper gave Blais full credit, noting that in the 2004 gold medal game, when the U.S. beat Canada in overtime, it was done before a mostly neutral crowd in Helsinki, Finland. Eaves noted that for Blais to coax a win out of his charges in overtime, versus Canada, before a hotly partisan audience in Saskatoon, was quite a different accomplishment.

Of course Eaves knows a thing or two about accomplishments, with the Badgers losing just once since Thanksgiving, and scoring goals like it’s going out of style. For years, Eaves has bristled at the notion that his coaching style favors a “defense-first” system. That rep has taken a beating thus far in 2009-10, with Wisconsin scoring 80 goals in 20 games.

“A lot of it has to do with the players you have,” Eaves said. “We always talked about our reputation for playing without the puck, but we’re certainly also doing some good things when we have the puck.”

Sophomore star Derek Stepan will return from Saskatoon with a gold medal and a target on his back, but junior defenseman Brendan Smith and senior forward Blake Geoffrion have led the offensive charge for Wisconsin. Smith stands tied for second overall among WCHA players with 27 points, while Geoffrion is second in goals with 14, but has posted just four assists. You’ll get no complaints about Geoffrion’s supposed one-dimensional play from his coach.

“Blake’s not what you’d normally call a natural goal scorer, so he went into this season with a focus on trying to become an overall better scorer and the puck has just been going in the net for him,” Eaves said.

As for Smith, and the surprise some express that a blueliner has provided so much offense, Eaves says the 6-foot-2 rearguard from Mimico, Ontario, is doing exactly what his natural abilities dictate, despite the D next to his name on the roster.

“He’s a forward playing defense,” Eaves said. “Brendan has always had a lot of offensive things that compliment his game, like a tremendous shot with a lot of zip on it. He’s got offensive skills you just can’t teach.”

After winning the 21st and final Badger Hockey Showdown with a 5-4 defeat of Merrimack and a 2-2 tie with Yale (Wisconsin won the ensuing shootout), the Badgers have a relatively light weekend ahead. They host the USA U-18 Team this weekend. Then it gets really interesting.

Sitting just two points behind Denver in the race for the WCHA’s lead, the Badgers close out January with a trip to second-place Colorado College, a home series with the Pioneers, and a visit to Minnesota Duluth (the Bulldogs are currently just a point behind Wisconsin).

“Those will be some incredibly huge games,” Eaves said, “and a chance for us to put some hay in the barn and points on the board.”

Making hay by putting points on the board seems like a skill the Badgers have already mastered.

DEPARTURES, RETURNS AT THE RALPH

Those concourse hawkers who yell “you can’t tell the players without a program” may be offering more solid advice than sales pitch at Fighting Sioux games this weekend. Talk about a lineup shuffle in North Dakota, thanks in large part to an injury bug that’s hung around longer than the winter weather.

First, it’s looking more and more like star defenseman Chay Genoway may have played his last shift of the season on Nov. 13 when a check from behind versus St. Cloud State led to a concussion and many lingering side effects. His return to the ice is nowhere in site, and sources close to the team tell INCH that the prospect of a medical redshirt is being discussed.

Add to that bad news the loss of forward Brett Hextall for at least a month after the top-line right wing suffered an undisclosed lower body injury during NoDak’s 3-3 tie with Notre Dame in the final game of their holiday tournament in suburban Chicago. Hextall has a dozen points in 19 games and was named to the all-tournament team despite the injury.

The good news is a pair of returns. Our friend Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reported this week that Darcy Zajac will be back on the ice this weekend when the Sioux host Minnesota State. Just three weeks after hernia surgery. Due to the light holiday schedule, Zajac missed just two games.

And there will be a familiar face and name on the ice of the Ralph again this weekend, when Matt Frattin makes a kind of homecoming in Grand Forks. You’ll recall that the junior from Edmonton was tossed from the team last summer after a few notable off-ice troubles. He’d been home in Alberta since then, thinking his college hockey days were over. But Sioux coach Dave Hakstol gave Frattin another chance, allowing him to re-enroll in school and return to the team.

Frattin played in both games in Chiacgo without recording a point, skating at right wing on a line centered by David Toews. Frattin had 13 goals in 42 games last season and was tied for second on the Sioux scoring chart with three game-winners.

REST BEATS REUNIONS IN MADISON

With the US NTDP Under-18s playing at Wisconsin this weekend, one of the storylines mentioned during the World Junior gold medal game was the prospect of five USA teammates facing off against one another just a few days following Saskatoon.

Badgers John Ramage, Jake Gardiner and Derek Stepan are indeed back in Madison, and could be in uniform for Bucky against Team USAers Jack Campbell and Jason Zucker on Saturday, but the Badgers coach thinks rest might trump the idea of a reunion.

As of Thursday, Eaves was leaning toward giving his three players the weekend off, honoring them for their gold medals, but keeping them in street clothes for the exhibition game. With a potentially grueling second-half WCHA schedule looming, that would seem to be the smart, if unsentimental, move.

DU's Rhett Rakhshani posted identical 2-1—3 scoring lines in wins against Nebraska-Omaha and Boston College.

RHETT RAKHSHANI
Denver
Sr. | F | Huntington Beach, Calif.

His Impact: Rakhshani was the catalyst as Denver captured its own holiday tournament with wins over Nebraska-Omaha and Boston College. Denver opened the tournament with a 7-0 win over UNO and Rakhshani posted two goals, an assist and was a plus-4.

Denver trailed Boston College 2-0 after two periods, but Rakhshani took over in the third period. He scored just 30 seconds into the period to cut the Pioneer deficit in half. Later in the period, he scored the game-tying goal with 5:16 remaining and then set up Joe Colborne’s game winner with 3:15 left on the clock.

His Runners-Up: Dan Bakala, Bemidji State; Brett Perlini, Michigan State; Kyle Rank, Bentley; Chris Rawlings, Northeastern; Jason Walters, Union

Among the longest shots to win any of the holiday tournaments, the Bentley Falcons left Storrs, Conn., with the trophy following 4-1 wins over host UConn and nationally-ranked Massachusetts in the UConn Hockey Classic. Goalie Kyle Rank was named tournament MVP after stopping 65 of 67 shots he faced in the two games, and made 42 saves in the win over UMass.

We panned Atlantic Hockey’s non-league performance in earlier editions of the First Shift, and will take this opportunity to salute Bentley’s big win. The Falcons are 6-4-2 in Atlantic Hockey, currently in fifth place, and have played fewer games than three of the teams ahead of them in the standings.

Regular readers of this site know that we’re not the greatest fans of post-game shootouts. Unfortunately, at many holiday tournaments across the country, the shootout is used to determine which teams advance and in some cases which teams win the tournament (Wisconsin). Our personal opinions aside, the holiday tournament season is probably the best time to use this format. With teams playing back-to-back nights and more than one game at each venue, there are time concerns and burdens on the players. Still, we applaud the Great Lakes Invitational and Beanpot for putting 20 minutes on the overtime clock.

We can accept that the CCHA uses the format for its league games, but why was there a shootout after Saturday’s 0-0 tie between Bemidji State and Western Michigan? When the host Broncos prevailed, fans left the rink with the perception that the Broncos won the game. Not bad for a team that failed to score an actual goal all weekend.

“Things just kind of turned for the worst and it just became a big distraction this year for us. And I think that’s one reason we were so up and down this year, because some of the things that he said to his players and some of the things that were done. People just didn’t cope with that.”

Texas Tech offensive lineman Brandon Carter made those remarks to ESPNDallas.com reporter Jeff Kaplan following the Red Raiders’ Alamo Bowl win over Michigan State last weekend. The situation surrounding the dismissal of Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach is bizarre, but the entire episode drives home an important lesson—that even though journalists and fans alike think they can dissect the problems plaguing Team X or get to the bottom of why Player Y isn’t performing, the truth is that we really don’t know.

Sure, we can speculate that a specific team’s issues stem from a lack of effort, an absence of finishers on offense, or zero attention to detail. And we might be right. Then again, maybe the guys hate each other, maybe they’ve tuned the coaching staff out, or, in the case of Texas Tech, the coach is a jerk.

On the strength of a pair of convincing wins over Michigan Tech and Rensselaer at the Great Lakes Invitational, Michigan State leapt past Bemidji State in this week’s INCH Power Rankings and both voter-driven polls. The Beavers didn’t help their cause with a scoreless tie at CCHA bottom-feeder Western Michigan, but the decision to flip the Spartans ahead of BSU wasn’t as easy as you might think.

@twolinepass America is a helluva country!

A simple statement from Ryan Lambert of Puck Daddy that captured a lot of the pride and emotion evident on Twitter Sunday night after the United States defeated Sweden in the semifinals of the World Junior Championship.