Big win!!!!

What a way to end the first month of the season. The Tigers put together their best game of the season by far in the win over Cornell. That win makes it 3 straight years that the Tigers have defeated a ranked opponent in the USCHO poll. I think this is the best win of those three due to that it was at Blue Cross Arena in front of a large crowd.

The defense was the key to this game. They didn't make that many mistakes that cost them big chances. They were able to help out Louis Menard in cleaning up any rebounds and just controlling the Big Red offense. The times they let it get to Louie, he was up to the task. The only goal they allowed was a bad bounce. The defense also showed it's depth in that they were able to weather several Cornell power play chances in a row.

The offense has not been a problem all year for RIT, and in this game it was no differant. But instead of waiting until they were behind, they got the lead early in the game and held on to it. The pwer play was again effective, getting a couple goals. They were able to capitalize on a major penalty last in the first to get a goal.

All in all, the Tigers have played some good hockey so far. They are actually ahead of last year's pace. Now they get to battle with the conference for a while and see where they measure up there.

Opening Weekend thoughts

RIT gets a split in their "weekend". They managed a win against Guelph, but could not hold on to beat Colgate on the road. While not the results that many of us were hoping for, but the Tigers certainly showed some good things in that game as well.

Sean Murphy is looking like he is going to be a contributer. He got the Tigers on the board against Colgate. He added an assist as well. This goes with the assist he had in the exhibition game. Clearly, he contributed most on the scoresheet among the freshman. Tyler Mazzei also tallied his first point, an assist. Kudos to them for getting their first NCAA points.

Simon Lambert and Matt Smith are also off to excellant starts. Lambert scored 3 assists against Colgate to get to 100 points in his career. Matt Smith also picked up where he left off - scoring two goals, including a power play goal. The rest off the offense was clicking as well. They scored 6 in the exhibition, and 5 against a solid Colgate team. The power play is a good part of it - hitting twice against Colgate.

The defense made a few mistakes in the Saturday game, and it cost them. They did a reasonably decent job in limiting shots. But a couple bad turnovers lead to a couple goals. Menard was not able to make the big save either. That is something I'm sure Coach Wilson will be harping on before the next game against Bowling Green.

I think that this was a good test for the team to see where they are. It was great to see them hang in with a team that is considered a dark horse in the ECAC. It was especially impressive considering they came back from a 3-0 deficit to take a lead. I'm sure the defense will be better, and the Tigers will be a better team for this game.

Hope opener next week. Should be fun.

Atlantic Hockey Preview - RIT

The final stop on the tour of Atlantic Hockey is the home of the Atlantic Hockey tournament, Rochester. That is also the home of defending regular season champion RIT.

RIT won the regular season championship last year in their first year in the conference. RIT won an impressive 21 wins last year. That was the most wins for the Tigers since the 2001-02. That followed up a tough year the previous year when they only managed 6 wins in their initial year of division I.

The Tigers were a powerhouse on offense last year - ranking 2nd in the NCAA in goals. They scored an impressive 3.88 goals per game - and an even better 4.14 goals per conference game. Leading the charge this year will be seniors Simon Lambert and Matt Smith. They tied for the team lead in goals last year with 17. But the real strength of the team is their offensive depth. A whopping 13 returning players had double digit points last year. This team will score a lot of goals on the season.

The defense last year was much improved from the previous year. They allowed a solid 29.4 shots on goal in conference action. The good thing for RIT is that all of their defensemen are returning. Brent Patry is the leader of this group. He was elected as one of the captians for the Tigers this year. This unit should be able to stifle opponents fairly well, and could be counted on to help out the goaltenders.

The goaltending for RIT is a bit inexperienced. The good news is that Atlantic Hockey goaltender of the year Louis Menard is back. He didn't lose a conference game last year. He also posted a league best 2.01 goals against average and a impressive .930 save percentage during conference action. The other goalie for RIT that is expected to see some action is freshman Jan Ropponen.

RIT will definately be a force in the conference. Their offense should be outstanding and the defense should be solid. If Menard is close to what he was last year, another conference title could be in the works.

Projected record: 20-8

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Air Force

The western most team in Atlantic Hockey is my selection for the 2nd place team in the conferece. The Air Force Falcons are that team.

Last year, Air Force won the AHA conference tournament last year with a great run. They were inconsistant last year, finishing 5th in the conference and the 4th seed in the tournament. But they stunned both Sacred Heart and Army in the conference tournament before narrowly losing to Minnesota in the NCAA tournament. This followed years where they were near the middle to bottom of the CHA conference.

Air Force has a solid offense to build on. That includes the AHA's first ever Hobey Baker finalist in Eric Ehn. Ehn was incredible last year, scoring 24 goals and 40 assists last year. But he is not the only major player coming back from a team that scored 3.36 goals per conference game. In fact, 5 of the top 6 scorers from last year return, including 2 double digit goal scorers. The power play could be improved from the 17% of last year. The offense is a strong point for Air Force.

Last year, the Falcon defence was generally very strong. However, they do lose a couple of key players from last year on the defence. The good news is that they have a couple seniors serving as assistant captains on the blue line in Matt Charbonneau and Frank Schiavone. They will be counted on to lead a veteran group. The one weakness this group had is that they allowed opponents to score on 20.5% of their power play chances. But in general, this is another real good part of the team.

Where Air Force had some trouble last year is goaltending. They had 4 different starters last year. Last year, Andrew Volkening stated his case to be the main starter this year with a win in the conference final and performed well in the NCAA tournament. He had good stats last year in his action - 2.39 goals against average and .894 save percentage in conference play. Ian Harper will also get some starts for Air Force as well. Tim Krystosek is also on the roster.

Air Force should be a force in the conference this year. I would not be too surprised to see them win the regular season title or the conference tournament title.

Projected record: 19-11

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Army

West Point is the next stop on the tour of the Atlantic Hockey Association. I have picked Army to finish 3rd in the conference this year.

Last year was an incredible season for the Black Knights. Predicted to be 9th in the preseason poll, Army finished 3rd and made it to the tournament finals for the first time. This is a continuation of the improvement in the number of wins for Army the last couple years going from 7 in 2004-05 to 12 in 2005-06 to 17 in 2006-07.

In spite of all the success for Army, the offense was not a major part of it. They only averaged 2.93 goals per game in confernce. The good new for Army is that 3 of their top 4 scorers from last year return. Luke Flicek is the biggest name returning. He scored 14 goals and had 23 assists last year for Army. They need to be a little bit better on the power play - a low 15.7% conversion rate. If they improve the offense a little, they will be that much tougher to beat.

The defense for the Black Knights was Army Strong all year. They held teams to a meager 26.6 shots on goal per game. The defense was also good when forced to play a man down. They allowed goals on 16.3% of opponents power play chances. With 4 returning seniors, this unit should be among the best in the conference yet again. They will be led by Chase Podsaid, who is the captian of the team. They will be a hard defense to crack.

The defense is helped by one of the best goalies in the conference in Josh Kassel. Josh was on the All Conference team at goaltender. He earned it with some strong numbers. He had a 2.30 goals against average in conference play. That led to a save percentage of .913. Backing up Kassel is fresman Jay Clark and sophomore Joey Spracklen.

Army is a tough team to call. On the one hand, they have an incredibly strong defense that will keep them in a lot of games. On the other hand, they don't have an offense that is going to blow teams out of the water. They are a dangerous team that will be a force this year in conferece.

Projected record: 18-10

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Sacred Heart

For the fourth place team in the AHA, I will take the team that was the #1 seed in last year's AHA tournament - Sacred Heart.

Sacred Heart has won over 20 games the last couple years for the first time in the program's history. Both times, however, the season finished sooner than expected. Last year, the Pioneers made it to the AHA semifinals before bowing out in overtime to eventual tournament champion Air Force. The previous year, they lost in the AHA quarterfinals to instate rival UConn. They look to take the next step this year.

One thing Sacred Heart should be able to do this year is score. They return 4 players who had double digits in goals from last year. They are lead by Bear Trapp and Alexandre Parent. Those two combined for 78 points last year. Trapp has been remarkable in his two years with 83 career points. The Pioneers have a lot of depth in this area - scoring 3.25 goals per game in conference. Look for them to equal if not better that mark this year.

The Pioneers should be set in the defensive side of the team as well. They lost 3 defensemen to graduation, but only 2 of them were everyday players. They still have some veterans here. A couple of key members to watch are Scott Marchesi and David Grimson. They allowed a solid 30.4 shots on goal per game in conference and only 18.1% of the time teams scored on their power plays. This is pretty good - and I expect that they will be around there as well.

Goaltending could be an area of concern for Sacred Heart. Stefan Drew is the only returning goalie with experience. He has only played 14 games in his career though. He has been excellant in those games - with a 2.68 career goals against average and a .916 career save percentage. Backing up Drew will be Oliver St. Onge and Matt Miller.

If Drew can hold up on a game by game basis the Pioneers will be a tough team to beat. They will win quite a few games by their offense alone. They will be in the hunt for a conference championship. I think 4th is probably the lowest they will be.

Projected record: 17-11