Don't Dump on Menard

Seems like the talk on USCHO is that it's time to sit Louie Menard more and let Jocelyn Guimond take more turns. This is seemingly all because of one game - against Cornell, at Lynah.

Sure he gave up 5 goals. And maybe Guimond does fair better (as he did in the 3rd). Perhaps it wasn't the best coaching decision for Menard to get his 4th career start. Yes, he has only started 4 games. There has been no reason to think he would not do well, as he did great and earned AHA goalie of the week honors twice. He did well against Clarkson, and shut out AIC.

Guimond is probably the better goalie right now, and is getting looked at by scouts. But I think it's important to see how Menard bounces back from a poor outing. Why not do it this season, when there is no post season?

I think he should get a start against Air Force. Maybe even the first game. That way he doesn't dwell on a bad game that long. If he bounces back from that game with a strong game, then I don't see any reason to relegate him too far on the bench. If he has a bad game, then maybe it is time to let Guimond handle more games so that RIT has a better chance of winning.

SWEEP!

RIT finally gets their first 4 point weekend. It felt like RIT was playing a DIII team the way the Tigers dominated AIC. A lot of people consider AIC to be a glorified DIII team, but still. You have to like the way RIT announced to the AHA - "We have arrived".

Again, both starting goalies were impressive. Guimond did let in a couple softies, but that was well after the game was decided. He wasn't getting a lot of work, so he was not really in the game. But congrats to Louis Menard for his first career win being a shutout. Not too many goalies get that distinction. It's a far cry from his only start of DI last year in the wild 10-7 affair with RPI.

Another thing that was impressive was the power play. It's funny that Coach Wilson was more impressed with Friday's power play game than Saturday's, even though Saturday's effort netted 6 goals. That is key to get that unit going to be able to beat the better teams in the conference.

Random AHA thoughts: Kudos go out to the Army Cadets as they have 7 points on the young season to take the lead in the conference standings. They were the only other team in the AHA to win both games last weekend. Another interesting scheduling note was that conference powers Holy Cross and Mercyhurst met up for 2 games already. Not surprisingly, the teams split the weekend. Sacred Heart has dug a little bit of a hole for themselves. They were expected to contend for the title, but have a tie to Army and a loss to Canisius. Those are games you need to win.

Great Tie against Union

Finally. We can all relax now. RIT has their first DI point since 12/31/05. Guimond came up HUGE once again and they stole a point against an ECACHL team. So far, that is the only AHA point against the "Big 4".

Not much to really say about this game, especially this far removed from it. It's good to see Steve Pinizzotto off to a great start. Simon Lambert has 4 assists, but I'm sure he will be raring to light the lamp soon. I think it's great that 3 freshman have already tallied their first points. It's a good sign for the future.

On that note, I want to talk a little about a differant game - one that was playing in Rochester, but you wouldn't know it. The Niagara-Colgate game at the Blue Cross Arena was seen by 147 people. That was embarrising. We want Rochester to be known as a good hockey town. You got to do a little better than that. We can't have that happen for the Atlantic Hockey tournament and more so for the NCAA Regionals later this year.

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Mercyhurst

We conclude our Atlantic Hockey preview with the team that I, as well as the coach's, think will be the top team in the league. That team is the Mercyhurst Lakers.

Mercyhurst is the only team other than Holy Cross to make the NCAA tournament out of the AHA. They have been a contender every year, and this is no differant. Last year, they had an excellant regular season, only to be upset by Bentley in double OT in the conference tournament semifinals.

The biggest reason the Lakers are favored is they have a lot of offense coming back. They have several returning players that had more than 20 points last season. They have a lot of balance, and will be tough to spot. Their goaltendind was average, but that was good enough during the regular season. Tighten that up, and they will be very tough to stop.

Key number: 4.17 - Number of goals per game last season.

Key returnee: Scott Champagne (F) - He had 16 goals and 34 assists last year, and has 114 points in 108 games.

Player to watch: Ben Cottreau (F) - As a sophomore, he had 17 goals and 34 assists. He already has 85 points in just 70 career games.

Key loss: Jamie Hunt (D) - One of if not the best defenceman in the league last year. He was also a good offensive threat, with 81 career points.

Ket series: 2/9-10 against Sacred Heart. This could be for the top spot in the league.

Projected record: 22-6

Must remember patience

RIT suffers two more close losses. Friday, the Tigers fell 4-3 to St. Lawrence. That was followed up by a 4-2 loss to Clarkson. This just adds to the stats that were piled up last year when RIT played every game close.

While it sucks that these games were losses, we have to remember to have patience. RIT is still only a 2nd year DI program. Clarkson played it's 2000th game in history. RIT has played about 30 DI games. That the Tigers were able to hang in there on the road against two good, established programs is a good sign. Yes, at some point, fans should expect to win some of these games. But we can't think that they should win those game now. I'm guilty of that. I'm sure more fans are guilty of that. Perhaps the win over St. Lawrence at the Ritter raised expectations too high.

Wait until RIT gets to the conference schedule. That is where RIT can be more competitive and wins some games. It will happen. If it doesn't, then we have the right to be upset.

So let me wrap up this blog with a good, bad, and ugly.

The good: Goaltending. Jocelyn Guimond was as good as he was last year. He kept RIT in the game against St. Lawrence. But the pleasant surprise was Louis Menard's game against Clarkson. Nobody knew what to expect from him, since he only got in 1 game before getting hurt last year. If Menard can keep this up, it will mean that the Tigers will have 2 solid goalies and can rest Guimond and still have a chance to win.

The bad: RIT got outshot pretty bad in both games. They were slight improvements from last year. There is also some question about the number of shots RIT took in St. Lawrence. The St. Lawrence AD seemed to short change RIT by 7 shots. Things were better against Clarkson, and RIT even outshot the Knights for a period. Granted, this is ECACHL competition, but I'm sure Coach Wilson will be addressing this as well.

The ugly - RIT's penalties. The Tigers took too many penalties. That is a killer against more talented teams. While the Tigers have been excellant in killing penalties so far, it will wear the team down. Also, they took penalties when they were on the power play. RIT can't let that happen.

My players of the weekend:
Simon Lambert - 3 assists.
Steve Pinizzotto - 1 goal and 1 assist
Louis Menart - Excellant game against Clarkson

RIT-Clarkson pregame chat

Brent Gobe of www.clarksonhockeyfans.com and I did interviews regarding Clarksonand RIT in anticipation of this weekend's matchup. This first section is him interviewing me regarding RIT and the Corner Crew.

Brent Gobe : to start off tell us about yourself and give a plug to your website and blog

Mark Komar: Ok. I have been an RIT Corner Crew member for over 10 years following the hockey team.Komar: I started my website www.ritcornercrew.org a few years ago to put everything that we do in one place. This year I added the blog - ritcornercrew.blogspot.com. I will be adding my thoughts on the games there .

Gobe: Can you explain the Corner Crew? My dad went to RIT in the 70's and he talked about it, I dont think it had a name, he just called them the rowdy guys in the corner.

Komar: The best way to describe the Corner Crew is that it is the primary student section of RIT - with some alumni mixed in. We do a lot of cheers during the games. And we really like to get on opposing goalies. I think we add a lot to the hockey experience, and I know the team and coach appreciate the energy we bring.

Gobe: What was the highlight of the first season in D-1?Komar: Well, the St. Lawrence win was huge just because it was the best name opponent to come to Rochester and then to pull off the upset was amazing. I think the Cornell game was a close second because the Tigers were able to hang in with them at Lynah - not an easy task. After that, really just that RIT was in so many games was a big highlight and a good omen of things to come.

Gobe: Turning to this weekend, how do the Tigers match up aginst the Saints and Knights?

Komar: Clearly RIT will be underdogs this weekend. I think RIT will be able to make a game of it against St. Lawrence because the Saints lost a lot of offense to graduation. That is RIT's best chance of getting a point out of the weekend. As for Clarkson, with all the offense the Knights return, the goalie (probably Guimond) may need to put up an amazing performance to win. Looking at Clarkson's numbers, it's easy to see why they could be looking at the ECACHL title.

Gobe: Is Guimond the #1 starter this year?

Komar: He is the primary starter. Coach Wilson will be looking to get Louis Menard in some games early this year to see what he can do. He looked good in preseason last year, but lost time due to first some paperwork in getting his eligiblity and then injuries.

Gobe: You mentioned RIT hung around in many games last year. Do you think that they ran out of gas late or just teams made adjustments in the third period? and follow that up with Do you think a year of experience will help them keep their legs?

Komar: I think a little of everything. Many of last year's players were recruited for DIII hockey. So really, they had to work hard against the DI players. I think that the size and speed of the teams wore down RIT quite a bit. The other thing is that I do think some teams were just thinking RIT would be a nice exhibition, and then all of the sudden RIT is taking it to them and the team winds up playing harder in the 3rd to hold on to the win.

Gobe: Who is the go to guy on offense for the Tigers?

Komar: Simon Lambert is the player to watch on offense. He had 16 goals last year and that was far and away the best on the team. I think the player to watch this year on offense that I think could do some big things is Steve Pinizzotto. He started the season late due to injury and I don't know if he was fully healthy all season and still put up 13 points in his 20 games.

Gobe: Any new recruits going to see alot of ice time?

Komar: I think Matt Crowell and Anton Kharin are probably going to see the most on offense. RIT also signed some bigger defensemen, which is much needed. So I think you will see a lot of Steve Coon, Al Mazur, and Dan Ringwald.

Gobe: Final score predicition?

Komar: Clarkson wins 5-2. I think Clarkson will try to get ahead early and cruise to a win.

Now I interviewed Brent about Clarkson ...

Komar: How do you think Clarkson will handle the pressure of being the preseason #2 in the ECACHL?

Gobe: I think that they know coming into this year that they have the talent to be a top team in the league, and have just underperformed in the past. I don't think rankings are really on their minds right now, as cliched as that sounds. I think they will live up to expectations and will finish in the top four of the league. I picked them to finish first, but I'm a homer.

Komar: Is defense a concern for the Knights? The numbers seem rather ordinary.

Gobe: I think it is to tell the truth. Chris Brekelmans was a rock back there and losing him leaves a big question mark on the blue line. They have some big kids playing but its a learning curve. Paquet and Mason are very skilled but need to prove it this year.Gobe: Grenzy is probably the top guy now and the rest of the defense will be looking up to him. Clitsome QB's the powerplay at times and has some offensive skill, he would probably be number 2. I think they need to gell quickly or these OOC games could be adventerous 6-5 affairs.

Komar: What about goaltending? It looks like Leggio and McNulty split time - is that the case this year as well?

Gobe: Leggio won the job, in my mind, at Lynah last year in March. He made 104 saves on 111 shots in that envrionment, that's gotta be worth something. I'm not sure what Roll will do early on. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes with Leggio or if he splits time between McNulty, Leggio and freshman Matt Smith. I think it will boil down to who's got the hot hand. Having two goaltenders that a coach can feel comfortable starting is a luxury, so I guess it remains to be seen. If I had to make a predicition, I'd say Leggio starts both games.

Komar: What about the offense? That seems to be the strength of the team. Anyone who is not so obvious that we should watch for?

Gobe: Max Kolu. Probably the fastest skater on the team and has one of the hardest shots too. He's a solid player on the fourth line and is always a threat if teams dont watch for him. I think Beca and Marks are going to be standout freshman in the league too.

Komar: Can you explain the huge difference between the home and road records last year?

Gobe: Nope. I think the youth of the team was a big reason. I know these guys all travel in juniors and what not, but theres a big diffence in a road trip to Kitchner and a road trip to Lynah, Starr. Even to Princeton, that's 7 hours on a bus, just sitting. I think this year they know they have to perform on the road, and it will be a big point of emphasis with Roll and his staff.

Komar: last question - prediction on the game?

Gobe: Well, I think the team will be looking to make a statement this weekend. Saturday night is the programs 2000th game, and its at home. I think your prediction of Clarkson coming out fast will hold true. I think Clarkson takes it 4-1.Gobe: Plus RIT hasn't had the expirence of playing SLU on friday and Clarkson on Saturday. It can take alot out of even the best teams.

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Sacred Heart

The preview of the Atlantic Hockey Association turns it's way back to Connecticut and Sacred Heart for the team I think will be #2 in the conference this year.

The Pioneers had a solid season for the most part last year. They contended for the top spot in the conference up until the very last weekend. However, losses to in-state rival UConn cost Sacred Heart the conference regular season title. Sacred Heart didn't recover from that and lost in the quarterfinals to UConn again. No doubt that Sacred Heart will contend for the regular season title again.

They return some of the best offensive players in the conference. Pierre-Luc O'Brien and Bear Trapp make up what is arguably the best 1-2 punch in the AHA. But that isn't the only way they can win. They are one of the biggest teams in terms of size in Atlantic Hockey, boasting some large defencemen. I wouldn't be surprised if they won the regular season title, but I want to see them do it first.

Key number: 7 - The number of defensemen over 6 foot.

Key returnee: Bear Trapp (F) - He had a great freshman season with 16 goals and 27 assists. If he can repeat those number or even improve on them, he could be one of the best players in conference history.

Player to watch - Pierre-Luc O'Brien (F) - He lead the team with 19 goals and 31 assists last year. Pierre-Luc has 112 career points in 106 games. He is also the captain of the team.

Key loss: Rocco Molinaro (F) - He has 12 goals and 17 assists last year. But he will especially be missed on the power play, where he had 7 power play goals.

Key series: 11/25-26 home and home against UConn. They need to excerise the demons from last year.

Projected record: 21-7

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Holy Cross

The Coach's poll for Atlantic Hockey is out, and I agree with them that Holy Cross will be third in the conference this year.

Holy Cross made a major statement for the conference last season with their big win over Minnesota in the NCAA tournament last year. But as impressive as that win was, it was the way they did it that was just as impressive. They were able to basically play with the Gophers in that win. That win made fan take a little more notice of Atlantic Hockey teams.

However, that Holy Cross team had quite a few seniors that were important contributers to the teams success. It will be hard to replace Tyler McGregor and Tony Quesada especially. They will need to have the rest of the team step up. This team will still be among the elites in the conference, but repeating their success from last year will be difficult. Look for them to take a small step back to the pack this year.

Key number: 1 - The number of NCAA tournament wins last year.

Key returnee: James Sixsmith (F) - He is the leading scorer among team that are returning. He scored 12 goals and had 28 assists last year. He also has 105 points in 107 career games.

Player to watch: Dale Reinhardt (F) - He had 11 ganes and 25 assists last year. He is a sophomore and him getting better stats will have some impact on how well the Crusaders do this year.

Key loss: Tony Quesada (G) - Holds several Holy Cross goaltending records. He had a 2.30 goals against average last year. He also had a .925 save percentage.

Key series: 10/20-21 against Mercyhurst. An early clash of the titans as the only two teams to win the AHA tournament collide.

Projected record: 20-8