RIT Tiger Hockey

And down the stretch we come

2009-02-05T08:02:00.000-08:00

First off, I want to thank everyone again for their support when I was in the hospital. That obviously kept me from blogging for a good chunk of the season. That said, it's amazing what has gone down since I came back.

RIT has not lost an NCAA game in calander year 2009, with 11 wins in a row. That, in addition to a bit of a collapse by Air Force, has propelled the Tigers into first place in the conference. They are poised to win their 2nd regular season title in 3 years. That's pretty good for a team that just now has their first DI class graduating this year.

I don't know what to make of Air Force now. They started out great - including a big win over Colorado College. They lost to Denver, and that seemed to start the downward trend. That following weekend, RIT went out there and got a split. They lost to Yale and Qpac. Every time you think they could be on their way, like 2 weeks ago when they swept Army, they slide back - getting 1 point last weekend at Mercyhurst. To be sure, they are dangerous come postseason and will have a high seed. But they can be beat.

After RIT and Air Force, the conference is wide open. 4 teams are vying for home ice in the quarter finals. Mercyhurst should be in the mix. Canisius could get there as well and I think will make it. Bentley and Holy Cross have tough games ahead of them to make it to the 3/4 seeds.

The play in teams seem pretty locked in now. Army and Sacred Heart will be playing AIC and UConn in some sort of combo.

Should make for an interesting month.

Starting the season

2008-10-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

We got a pretty good start to the season for RIT this weekend. The Tigers played a good game against Bowling Green, only to fall 4-2. They rebounded to get a nice win over Western Michigan the next night. Based off the radio coverage (nice job on the cell phone at Bowling Green guys), it seemed like the Tigers played as well as the "better conference" foes.

There is a lot to like so far. The power play scored each night. They even scored a shorty. The penalty kill was solid - better on Saturday by shutting down Western Michigan. The defense played well. Both Louis Menard and Jared DiMichiel played exceptional.

The offense will still need to get better. But they are young and I'm sure will improve. Scott Knowles got his first assist and Tyler Brenner made his first career goal a game winner. It is also good to see Anton Kharin get on the scoresheet early with an assist. We will see what happens.

My MVP for the weekend: Brennan Sarazan - a goal and an assist on the weekend, and it sounded like he was everywhere.

Atlantic Hockey Preview

2008-10-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Here is my view of how Atlantic Hockey will pan out this year.

1. Air Force Falcons

Air Force made it back to back Atlantic Hockey tournament championships last year while finishing in third place in the regular season. This earned them an NCAA berth, in which they took Miami (OH) to overtime before losing 3-2 in the first round. They also had some good results in non-conference action last season. They started with asweep over ECAC foe Quinnipiac 4-1 and 3-1. They defeated 4th ranked Denver for the first time in 19 years 5-2. The next night, they gave #3 Colorado College all they could handle before falling 2-1. They also tied #12 Minnesota on the road in theconsolation game of the Dodge Holiday Classic.

Air Force will have one of the more potent offenses in Atlantic Hockey. They had four players score double digit goals, and they are all returning. Brent Olson ledthe team with 18 goals last year. He added 20 assists to tie for the team lead in points with 38. Jeff Hadner (13-23-38), Matt Fairchild (11-18-29), and Josh Frider(13-14-27) were in double digits in goals. There were also several players who contributed 5 or more goals. They do lose their Hobey Baker finalist from 2 years ago in Eric Ehn. But they have plenty of depth. Freshmen Paul Weisgarber and Greg Burgdoefer were recruited to add to that depth and will work to get playing time forthe Falcons.

The defensemen for Air Force will be a mix of veterans and newcomers. They return one of the better defensemen in the conference in Greg Flynn. He had 8 goals and 23 assists on the year. He and Michael Mayra will provide senior leadership on the blueline. Brad Sellers is the only other defensemen returning that played a majority of games for the Falcons. They lose a couple of defensemen in Matt Charbonneau and Frank Schiavone. Fighting to fill their slots will be returnees Brandon Johnson,Kevin Wright and newcomers Tim Kirby, Scott Mathis, and Mark Williams.

In goal for the Falcons is one of the more underrated goalies in Atlantic Hockey in Andrew Volkening. He does not have eye-popping numbers in save percentage. He only had a .901 save percentage in conference action. But he almost always came up big when he needed, allowing only 21 goals in 11 non-conference games. That gave him a 2.09 goals against average on the season. He will be backed up by Tim Trystrosek and Stephen Caple. Neither of them have had any experience in the NCAA.

2 (tie) Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers

RIT followed up their regular season championship with a second place finish and asemifinal loss to Air Force in the Atlantic Hockey tournament. The Tigers also had some big non-conference wins last year. They defeated Cornell 4-1 in their first game at Blue CrossArena. The Tigers also upset Minnesota in the Dodge Holiday Classic 4-3. They followed that up with a loss to eventual champion Boston College 6-0 in a game theytrailed only 1-0 after 2 periods. Overtime was also a big story last year, as RIT played 11 overtime games, winning 4 (including their first home OT win in 10 years) and tying 6.

RIT will need to figure out where the offense will come from. The top two scorers, Simon Lambert and Matt Smith graduated last year. The leading returning goal scorer is Matt Crowell. He had a good sophomore season with 11 goals and 11 assists. Most of those were earlier in the season though. Anton Kharin will be counted on to putup numbers similar to his freshman year. Sean Murphy and Andrew Favot should improve upon some solid freshman numbers, scoring 5 goals each. The Tigers also have some solid recruits in this area. Scott Knowles averaged 1.5 points per game last year in the BCHL. He had 26 goals and 64 assists. Mark Cornacchia also averaged more than a point per game in the OPJHL. He had 30 goals and 43 assists last year. The Tigers will need these players to score goals.

A big strength will be the Tiger defense. The best of them is Dan Ringwald. He argualably was the best overall defensemen in the conference. He is a threat on offense, as his 3 goals and 30 assists showed. He also had a +9 rating last year to show he was good on defense. Al Mazur is another strong defenseman. Mazur has a strong shot (the "Mazur lazer") that connected for 5 goals. He is also pretty goodon defense. They are joined by Justin Hofstetter and Bobby Raymond as the core group of blueliners. Newcomers Riley Clark, Trevor Eckenswiller, Chris Haltigin, and Daniel Spivek are also expected to contribute as well.

Another area RIT should not need to worry about is goaltender. Louis Menard has shown himself to be one of the best goalies in the league. Menard had a 2.75 goals against average and a .902 save percentage last year. In conference play, he was even better - 2.29 and .917. Jared DeMichiel was his backup last year. He was inconsistant. He had a win over Holy Cross and tie against Niagara. However, hehad 2 bad losses against Canisius. He will be battling with Jan Rapponen for the #2 job. Rapponen did not play last year for the Tigers, but was on the roster.

2 (tie). Mercyhurst Lakers

Mercyhurst had an decent regular season, finishing fifth in the confernece. But they had an oustanding postseason. They started with a sweep of Canisius in the first round. They followed it up with a win over Sacred Heart in the Four-Five game at the Final Five. Then they upset Army in the semifinals. The dream weekend ended in the finals though, losing in double overtime to Air Force. They did not get any points in nonconference action, but they played tough teams and that helped with theirpost season run.

The Mercyhurst offense will return mainly intact. They lose their top scorer, but the next eight players will come back. Matt Pierce leads that group with 27 points on 15 goals and 12 assists. Steve Cameron made his mark as a freshman with 11 goalsand is the other returning player with double digit goals. Ryan Toomey will return from a medical redshirt last year. He is a weapon with 27 career goals. The depth will make it hard to focus soley on those players. The recruits will look to add to that depth. Derek Elliot seems to be the best of that bunch, with 25 points last year.

The defenese for Mercyhurst was not so great last year. They allowed over 33 shots per game in conference play last year. They have size here, as only one defenseman is under six feet. They are also experienced, with 3 juniors and 2 seniors. Matt Fennell was the best offensively of this bunch. Bobby Phillips and Kirk Medernachare the seniors here. With all the expecrience, it will be hard for recruits Kevin Noble and Patrick Goebel to get time.

Goaltending was supposed to be a strength last year, but didn't quite turn out that way. Matt Lundin was injured early in the season and was not the same when he cameback. His work in the postseason showed what he could be like when healthy. Lundin had a 2.81 goals against average and .918 save percenatage last year. Those numbers should be better this year. Ryan Zapolski got to see good playing time as Lundin's backup. He had a 3.82 goals against average and .896 save percentage. Max Stang was recruited as the third goalie.

4. Army Black Knights

Army won it's first ever Atlantic Hockey Association regular season title last year,racking up a good 17-8-3 conference record last year. They went 11-1-1 in their final 13 games last year. Then they swept AIC in the first round of the playoffs inmpressive fasion. However, Mercyhurst ended the dream season in the semifinals of the AHA tournament. Army also had a tie against Brown for their only non-conference point.

Army will need to figure out where the offense will come from. They do return their top scorer in Owen Meyer. Meyer had 21 goals and 18 assists last year, and will be counted on to repeat if not top those numbers. Cody Omilusik showed promise last year as a freshman with 9 goals and 7 assists. Joey Ammon was the only other forward that had more than 3 goals last year with 8 goals. There are eight freshman forwards on the roster that will look to replace some of the offense lost to graduation. The more heralded of these are Jack Barnes and Danny Colvin. They were stars at prep school and will likely see significant time for Army.

The defense for Army is one of their strong points. The were very stingy in allowing shots to get to the goalie - allowing less than 26 shots on goal last year. A key player returning here is the AHA defensemen of the year, Jake McKelvie. He will be counted on even more this year with four defensemen graduating. Matt Hickey and Pat Copeland were the only other returning starter that saw significan action. Four new defensemen will look to grab some ice time. Marcel Alvarez and Scott Warner are thebest of this group.

The biggest strength for Army is their goaltenders. Josh Kassel earned several accolades as the Army goaltender. He was the voted AHA player of the Year and wasa second team All American. Kassel had a minute 1.92 goals against average and a .925 save percentage last year. Jay Clark and Joe Spracklen will fight for playing time as his backup. Because of the defense, these two also posted goals against averages under 2 and save percentages better than .924 last year.

5. Sacred Heart Pioneers

Sacred Heart continued their tradition of excellance on ice with a fourth place finish last year in Atlantic Hockey. In the playoffs, they needed the full three games to defeat their in state rival UConn. However, in the Final Five play-in game, the Pioneers lost to Mercyhurst. Sacred Heart was particularly tough at home, going 11-4-2 on the season.

Scoring goals was not a problem for Sacred Heart last year, and this will be a strength again. The Pioneers have five players returning that scored 10 or more goals last year. The best of the bunch is Bear Trapp. Trapp tied for the team lead in points with 40 on 13 goals and 27 assists. Trapp has 123 points in his career in only104 games. Dave Jarman and Erik Boisvert scored over 30 points each last year. The depth on the offense makes this team hard to stop. They were also excellant in powerplay, scoring over 25% of the time. The Pioneers added a couple of forwards to add to their depth. Matt Gingera comes in as the better of the two, leading the Manatoba Junior League in goals and set a team record in points.

The Sacred Heart defense was pretty solid last year. They held teams to 31.3 shotsper game last year. This year, they return most of their defenseman. They have three seniors to provide leadership and experience. Dave Grimson and Paul Ferraro have the most experience here. Sophomore Chris Brown lead the team in +/- last year on defense. Corey Laurysen is was a top +/- defensemen on the team as well. This group will make recruits Chris Baker and Ryan Miniaci fight for playing time thisyear.

The Pioneers are pretty set in goal this year. They will count on Stefan Drew to play the bulk of the games this year again. The senior put up solid numbers this year for Sacred Heart. He posted a 2.63 goals against average in conference play. He also had a conference save percentage of .915 last year. Those numbers were good enough to win 14 conference games. Oliver St. Onge will again be the primary backup. While posting a 2.22 conference goals against and a .916 save percentage inconference play, he did not win a game. Angelo Tsagameas was recruited from the clubteam to be the third goaltender.

6. Connecticut Huskies

The UConn Huskies finished the season in seventh place in the Atlantic Hockey Association. They ended the season by taking Sacred Heart to a third game in the best of three series in the playoffs. The non-conference season highlight was a win over Colgate in overtime. They also had a four game winning streak at the end of the season, sweeping AIC and Holy Cross. Another area there were good in was overtime games. The Huskies went 4-1-3 in overtime games last year.

The offense is a mix bag of good news and bad news. The good news is that they return their top seven scorers from last year. The bad news is that only two players scored more than 20 points and nobody had more than 25. Andrew Olson lead the team in goals and points with 14 goals and 24 points. Chris Ochoa was the only other double digit goal scorer with 10 goals. He added 13 assists to be the other 20 pointscorer for UConn. They will look to some of their freshman to add more punch to theteam. Corey Jendras lead his team in scoring last year with 30 goals and 39 assistsin 57 games last year. Daniel Naurato had 61 points in 45 games last year. PatMcAuley had 51 points and was in the top ten in scoring in the AJHL. If this area improves, the Huskies will be a dangerous team to play.

The Husky defense was pretty average last year. Having Sean Erickson back for a full season will be a boost to the team. He provides senior leadership as a co-captain for UConn. Joining Erickson as captain will be Nick Schneider. Schnieder gives great effort during the games, and helps out on offense. They allowed 32 shots pergame, but were effective in stopping power plays, allowing goals on only 14.2% of chances. With most of the defensemen returning, recruits Brad Cooper and Bobby Reiners will have to fight to get playing time.

The real strength of the UConn team is their goaltending. In particular their star Beau Erickson. Erickson had a 2.68 goals against average and a .918 save percentage in conference action. He had a pair of shutouts last year. He was named second team All-Conference. Jon Glant and Brad McInnis will fight for playing timeas backups. Glant went 2-2 last year with a 3.51 GAA and .869 save percentage in fourgames. McInnus was 0-2 with a 5.92 GAA and .851 save percentage.

7. Canisius Golden Griffins

The Canisius Golden Griffins will look to improve on a solid season last year. They finished sixth in the conference during the regular season, before being swept inthe first round of the Atlantic Hockey playoffs. The Griffins had some non-conference success as well. They tied St. Cloud in the second game of their series. They also defeated their Western New York rivals Niagara 4-3. They were particularly tough athome, racking up a good 9-5-1 record at their home arenas. In the end, the Griffins tied or set four school and individual records.

Canisius has quite a few weapons on offense. They return their leading goal scorerin Jason Weeks with 12 goals. He will have help from the Griffins top two scorers in Vincent Scarsella and Josh Heidinger. Scarsella lead the team in assists with 22and the team in 31 points. Hiedinger had 9 goals, tying him with Scarsella for third on the team. There was also quite a bit of depth, as six returning players had 10 points or more. They also added some weapons in recruiting. Adam Bruce had 90 points last year in the CJHL last year. Dave Kostuch had 74 points in the OPJHL last year with 37 goals. Finally, Scott Moser was all-state second team, recording 51 points last year. This could be an explosive offence.

The Griffin defense was a bit suspect last year and needs to get bettter. There will be some experience here, with one senior and three juniors. The senior, John Patera,did not play a lot last year, but has played 52 games in his career. Chris Forsman was one of the better overall defensemen. He had 15 points, and a +3 rating. Carl Hudson is also a tough defenseman, scoring 12 points. These two will be keys in shoring up a defense that allowed over 33 shots a game. They will be joined by the only defensive recruit, Wes Love. Love was a All Division defenseman last year. If they improve here, Canisius will be a darkhorse.

Andrew Loewen in the main goaltender for Canisius, and he posted strong numbers. He had a 2.54 conference goals against average last year in conference. He had a save percentage of .920 during conference play. Backing him up will be Taylor Anderson and recruit Dan Morrison. Anderson played decently in limited action with a 3.70 goals against average and a .855 save percentage. Morrison was 24-4-6 last year for the Elmira Sugar Kings with a 2.21 goals against average and a .938 save percenatage last year.

8 (tie). Holy Cross Crusaders

The Holy Cross Crusadors finished a dissapointing ninth last year in Atlantic Hockey. They then proceeded to lose a pair of overtime heartbreakers at RIT duringthe first round of the playoffs. They got off to a pretty good start, being 5-4-5 tostart the year. That included a win over Providence. They had the dubious distinction of finishing fourth in the Catamount Cup in spite of not losing a game. They tied Vermont in the first game before losing in shootout. They followed that up with a tie against Western Michigan before again falling in shootout. The second half did not go as well for Holy Cross though, as they went 5-12-2 after the start of the new year.

Holy Cross will need to improve their offense to get better in the league. One key to the team's success will be Everett Sheen. Sheen had 15 goals and 9 assists as a freshman last year. The 15 goals lead the team. Everett Sheehan led the team inpoints with 33 on 13 goals and 20 assists. Joe Brock nearly joined them in the double digit goal club, but fell short with 9 goals and 8 assists. They brought ina plethora of recruits to help here. Jay Silvia is one of the top guys that they hope can light the lamp. He had 88 career points in his high school career. Andrew Cox was outstanding at Phillips Academy Andover, racking up 23 goals and 33 assists last year. Matt Gordon had 40 goals and 68 points in the CJHL last year.

The Crusadors will look to replace four seniors on a defense that was not that great last year. They were pretty good in allowing shots, but were dreadful in penaltykill - allowing goals at a whopping 25.6% of the time. Shane McAdam and Marty Damsare the seniors that will look to tighten that unit up. But there are four freshmen on defense that will be fighting for playing time. Matthew Davis may be the best of the group. He was a three time league all star in the EJHL. He even adds some scoring pop, with 14 goals and 48 assists.

In between the pipes, Holy Cross has a pair of average goalies. Adam Roy played the most games last year. He was respectable, allowing 2.64 goals per game in conference play on a .918 save percentage. Overall, he had a 8-14-4 record last year. Ian Dams also saw significant time. He had a 3.25 goals against average and a .890 save percentage during conference play. He got the non-conference win. Charlie Lockwood was on the roster, but did not play.

8 (tie). American Internations College Yellowjackets

American International College once again was the celler dweller of Atlantic Hockeylast season. However, things may be on the upswing for the Yellowjackets. They went from 15 points in 2006-07 to 19 points in 2007-08. They also managed to pick up a pair of ties against ECACHL opponants. They tied #16 RPI in the first round of the Rensselaer Holiday Hockey tournament before falling in shootout. That was the first points ever against a ranked opponent. They also tied Dartmouth. However, they only managed 1 tie in their last eight games, including a 2 game sweep against Army in the AHA playoffs.

The offense for AIC was a little more diverse last year. But it was still senior driven and they will need to replace several top scorers. They do return their leading overall scorer in Mike McMillan. He had 8 goals and a team leading 16 assists last season. Chris Campanale and Steve McLeod were players that got their first significant action and contributed with double digit points. Tom Mele also added five goals on the year as a freshman. Five freshmen have been recruited to help inthis area. The most proficient of these is Michael Penny. He had 56 points in 62 games in the USHL. Rob Florintino also adds scoring punch, with 36 points in 53 games last season.

The defense for AIC was their biggest weakspot. They did give up 3.75 goals per game last year. They also gave only limited offensive output. The best offensive defenseman returning is Frankie DeAngelis, who had 4 goals and 10 assists. Keith Rogeris the only other returning defenseman that scored a goal last year. Roger and MattWoodard are the seniors of the group and hope to make this group stronger. The Yellowjackets have some new recruits to help strengthen this squad. Pat Beckwith, Rob Blanchette, and Licaino Primiani will likely be expected to compete for playing timeand make this part of the team a strength.

Goaltending was not much of a problem for AIC last year. Dan Ramirez has a strong freshman year in net. He was the winning goalie for all of AICs wins last year. He posted a 3.29 goals against average. He had a .896 save percentage. Those were solid numbers for a goalie that had a weak defensive group in front of him. Tom Fentonwill back up Ramirez. He had a 4.66 GAA and a .860 save percentage. Jack Andersonis on the roster, but did not see any action last year.

10. Bentley Falcons

Bentley comes into this season coming off an eighth place finish in the Atlantic Hockey Association. That was followed up by a sweep in the playoffs against Air Force. With most of that team coming back, the Falcons will be looking to improve upon that. Bentley did not win any non-conference games, unfortunately. But they were tough at home, with a 4-6-4 record. Season highlights were a pair of 3 game winning streaks last year. They also tied three games in a row.
The Falcons will need to be more consistant than last year. They do have the players to be solid. They averaged 2.89 goals per conference game. They had 4 double digit goal scorers, and they all return. Leading the way will be Dain Prewitt. He lead the team with 32 points on 15 goals and 17 assists. The leading goal scorer was freshman sensation Erik Peterson with 16 goals. Junior Marc Menzione and senior Jeff Gumaer are the other double digit goal scorers returning. They added three newcomers to the front lines to add depth. Herbie Kent, Jamie Nudy, and Aaron Stonacek are the freshman forwards. Stonacek is the best of the bunch, with 36 points in 56 games last year.
Bentley's defense will need to improve from last year. They lose three defensemen from a defense that gave up a bunch of shots last year. Casey Russell will be the only senior defenseman. Bobby Preece and and Brandon Graffunder are the only other defensemen that played last year as underclassmen. They will be counting on their four recruits to play significant amounts of time. Trent Bonnett had 21 points and a +28 in 58 games last year. Tyler Quartuccio had a +33 and had 26 points in 44 games.
One thing Bentley does not have to worry about is goaltending. Joe Calvi played great as a freshman last year for the Falcons. He was the goaltender for all of Bentley's wins last year and all but one of their ties. Calvi posted a .915 savepercentage and a 2.76 goals against average in conference play last year. Look for that to get even better if the defense improves. Jason Kearney and Nick Moise hadlimited action for Bentley last year. They also brought in Kyle Rank. They will be battling for the backup job.

RIP Dan Barrows

2007-11-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

Hockey lost a good friend last night when Dan Barrows died. He probably forgot more about hockey than I will ever know.

I knew Dan from the RIT games. We would talk a little between periods and before the game about what we thought about the game. And there was always a smile on his face when we talked hockey. It didn't matter if it was some game in the 80s or the recent game. My favorite was when he would say "win, win, win, win, win" after an RIT win.

The last couple years have been great in that I would go out with him and his wife Laurie after the game to eat. There we would talk more about the game that was just played, or the hockey game on TV. The man loved his hockey.

The hockey world will miss him. So will I. RIP Dan.

Ugly split

2007-11-04T15:06:00.000-08:00

After such a big win over Cornell, a let down was bound to happen.

Friday was an rough win. It seemed like everything was just a little off. The passing was not crisp. The defense was giving up the puck. Things that cost the Tigers in the first couple of games. Fortunately, RIT snapped out of it in time to get the win. Ricky Walton's penalty shot was a thing of beauty. From then on, RIT was able to hold on.

Things were not so fortunate on Saturday. A lot of people question the use of DiMichael. I think it was a good move. Coach needed to see him in real game action without being forced into playing him. Canisius is a team that most people predicted would be near the bottom of the league. But the way the Tigers played, Jacque Plante would have had problems. The effort was not there. Horrible defensive decisions were made. The offense never got going. The result - their worst loss since their first game in Division I.

Some key games coming up against Air Force. They better be ready for them.

Big win!!!!

2007-10-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

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

Atlantic Hockey Preview - UConn

2007-09-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

Now we get to the teams that are projected to have home ice in the first round of the AHA playoffs. I predict that UConn will be the fifth place team in the conference.

UConn enjoyed it's finest season since the 1999-2000 season when the Huskies posted 16 wins. They rallied with 7 wins in their last 10 games to get the achivement. That included a AHA tournament win before they lost to Army in the AHA semifinals.

The offense for UConn will feature a lot of new players. They lost a lot of scoring from last year. Leading the charge for the Huskies will be junior Chris Myhro. Myhro had 20 goals and 11 assists last year. He will be counted on to do the same this year. There were some freshman last year that chipped in last year. They will need to improve the power play from last year. The Huskies only scored on 14.9% of their chances last year. If some of last year's freshman improve from last year and some of this year's freshman step up, the Huskies could find themselves in the AHA Final Five again.

The defensemen for the Huskies will be a mix of youth and experience. They have 5 returning defensemen from last year. They were decent last year - allowing 31.8 shots on goal last year. They also allowed scores on 18.7% of opponents power plays. They are bringing in 5 freshman to attempt to replace the 3 seniors from last year. They will be counted on to keep up these stats.

The real backbone and strength of the Huskies is at goaltender. Beau Erickson is one of the better goaltenders in the league and will definately be a factor in the AHA race. Erickson had great numbers last year. He posted a 2.92 goals against average last year with a .907 save percentage. He was a big reason why UConn made it as far as they did last year. He will be the reason why I don't think they will slide that far back in the standings.

UConn has holes in it's team from last year. They lost a lot of seniors from last year's outstanding season. However, they found a goaltender that they can hang their hat on for the next couple years. If the freshman do real well, they could be higher. But I think this is the ceiling for UConn at this time.

Projected record: 16-12

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Holy Cross

2007-09-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

My picks for 6th place in the Atlantic Hockey Association makes it's home in Worcester, MA - Holy Cross.

A couple years ago, the Crusadors made history as the first Atlantic Hockey Association team to win an NCAA tournament game with a victory over Minnesota. However, they could not follow up that majical season with a good one last year. Last year, Holy Cross only won 10 games, their lowest amount of wins since the 2000-01 season.

The offense was not deep last year lose a couple of key players. This may put more pressure on Dale Reinhardt to lead this group. He is by far the best returning forward from last years team. He scored 16 goals and had 18 assists. The next highest leading goal scorer had 7. They bring in 4 freshman forwards, and they may be looked at to make some major contributions right away.

The defensive side of the ice is very experienced. The Crusadors have 4 senior defensemen this year. They were very good last year as well. They only allowed 28.4 shots on goal per game. When you do that, you give yourself a change to win. They allowed goals on 20.1% of opponent's power play chances, which could be improved upon. This group should play well and keep the Cross in many games.

Holy Cross will need better contributions from their goaltending to get back to being an elite team in the conference. Ian Dams played the most games and had the best stats. He had very ordinary stats at best with a 3.23 goals against average and a .888 save percentage. Charlie Lockwood is the other returning goalie - and he wasn't much better. Freshman Adam Roy could come into play for Holy Cross if neither goalie does well.

The problems at goaltender could really be the downfall of Holy Cross. The defense should be solid and the offense could do enough. I think this group will be incosistant early on at least.

Projected record: 14-14

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Mercyhurst

2007-09-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

My tour of the Atlantic Hockey Association finds us in Erie, PA to talk about the Mercyhurst Lakers. They are my pick to finish 7th.

Mercyhurst has traditionally been one of the stronger teams in Atlantic Hockey. They have 2 regular season titles and 3 conference tournament titles. However, last year was a down year for the Lakers as they only managed 9 wins.

The offense for the Lakers was the strong suit last year, and should be pretty solid again this year. They scored 3.5 goals per game, among the best in the conference. The top scorer from last year, Ben Cottreau returns for his senior year. He has scored an impressive 120 points during his carreer. He was a big part of a solid power play unit that scored 19.2% of the time. They also have a couple of double digit scorers that return as well in Matt Pierce and Ryan Toomey. I think this will be a big reason for Mercyhurst wins.

The defense, however, really struggled last year. They gave up a whopping 38.2 shots on goal per game in conference. They brought in some large defensemen as fresman this year to help shore up that department. It was a young defense last year, and with 3 freshman it will get younger. This may help the team down the road and I think they could be better towards the end of the year.

The Lakers have no returning goalies this year. They brought in Matt Lundin as a transfer from Maine and he will likey take the starting job. He posted solid numbers for Maine in his action there. I think he controls the destiny of the Lakers. The backup job will be Ryan Zapolsky.

This team could be a very good team if Lundin is as advertised. I think that they will be dangerous later in the season as the defense gets better. The beginning of their schedule is difficult and that could put them in a small hole. I'll give them a low number and hope they surprise.

Projected record: 12-16

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Bentley

2007-09-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

We move to Waltham, MA for my pick for the 8th place team in the conference - the Bentley Falcons.

A couple years ago, Bentley nearly sent shock waves throughout the NCAA when they made it to the AHA championship game and a win would have put them in the tournament and Holy Cross would have been an at-large bid. This made them a dark horse last year. However, they scuffled last year, particularly at the end.

The offense that was supposed to be much better only had marginal improvement. The good news is that most of their top scorers are returning. Jeff Gumaer and Dain Prewitt each had double digit goals and are juniors this year. But they need to gel better this year, particularly on special teams. They scored on a paltry 11.8% of their power play chances. This unit must improve though in order to be competitive in the AHA.

Defensively, the Falcons were not that bad. They allowed only 30.1 shots on goal per game. They were respectable in penalty kill - only allowing goals on 17.9% of opponents power plays. This in an experienced bunch as well. The three seniors will be expected to mark opponents and keep the other teams from getting good chances.

The weakest link for Bentley is their goaltending. Jason Kearney is the most experienced goalie on the roster. But in two years, he has only played 18 games. His numbers are respectable on his career - 3.44 goals against average and .898 save percentage. Nick Moise is also a junior but has only played 4 games in this career. Joe Calvi is a freshman and may get some playing time if Kearney and Moise can't do the job.

I don't know what to make of this team. Last year, I picked them too high and they dissappointed. This team could be like UConn last year. However, I think inexperience in net will really do in the Falcons as they don't have the offense to make up for it.

Projected record: 8-20

Atlantic Hockey Preview - AIC

2007-09-23T16:33:00.000-07:00

AIC is the next team I will preview. I predict they will finish 9th in the AHA this year.

American International has traditionally been one of the bottom teams in the Atlantic Hockey Association. However, they have shown a LITTLE improvement - increasing their win totals the last couple years. There is a chance that this could continue, but I am taking a bit of a show me on them.

The offense for AIC has been the biggest problem over the years. Jerome Tendler was their only double digit goal scorer last year. Fortunately, he comes back for his senior season. There some seem to be some help in this area in the recruits. TJ Smith, Tom Mele, and Steve McLeod had some impressive statistics in their junior leagues. They are especially needed to help an anemic power play that only connected on 10% of their chances last year. Getting those stats up should be a top priority for the team.

The defence showed some improvement last year. They allowed only 30.6 shots on goal in conference action. The penalty kill allowed goals on only 17.6% of opponent's chances. When you do that, you have an opportunity to win games. They graduated one defenseman, so the rest of the group will need to step up. If that happens, AIC will be in some games and could steal some.

The main goalie for AIC is one of their best players. Tom Fenton's return from his groin injury was a big reason for them getting 6 wins after the new year when only getting 2 before then. His numbers are not great - 3.75 goals against average and .876 save percentage. He is certainly capable of better numbers - especially if he gets some offensive support. Coby Robinson and Matt Tourville backed Fenton up - and they are adequate at best. Fenton will get the vast majority of the time.

This team is going to win some games that it should not. I don't know if they have the offense yet to play with the top teams. I think they start to escape the cellar and will put some wins together. I'm giving them a low projection, but I think they could do better.

Projected record: 6-22

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Canisius

2007-09-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

This is the first in my series of AHA previews as I count down where I think everyone will finish. My pick for 10th place - Canisius.

The Canisius Griffins have hit hard times on the ice lately. The last couple of years have seen them win 19 games combined. I think it will be hard pressed for them to get that much more.

One of the problems the Griffins have is the last of scoring punch on the team. Only 3 players posted double digits in goals last year - and one of those players graduated. The team only scored 2.46 goals per game overall and 2.71 goals in conference play. The good news is that they are a young team and will be able to gel into a good team. Some really key players to watch for are Jason Weeks and Josh Heidinger. Teams will be keying on those two players for the most part. If these players can get some of the other players going, this team will surprise some teams.

The defence is the most expecienced part of the team. There are 2 seniors and 1 junior among the blue liners. They did allow a respectable 31 shots on goal per game in conference play. But when you average over 19 PIMS per game, you have to be on your toes. This team will need to help lock down some of the key scorers for other teams. If they can keep things close, they have a chance.

Starting in goal will likely be Andrew Loewen. He is a freshman who played pretty will for the Griffins. He allowed 2.75 goals per game in conference action and had a .910 save percentage. Those are solid numbers for a freshman. He will be asked to step up a little more. Backing him up will be senior Bryce Luker and freshman Taylor Anderson. Luker is coming off a miserable senior season where he did not win a game and posted a 4.98 goals against average and a .851 save percentage.

I don't see this team being much of a factor in the chase for the Atlantic Hockey title this year. I expect that they may improve as the season goes on, but I think this program has hit rock bottom and will go back up from here next year.

Projected record: 5-23

Schedule analysis - conference schedule

2007-08-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

Let's look at the conference schedule....

RIT hosts AIC, Canisius, Air Force, Mercyhurst, Sacred Heart, Army, and Bentley. Sacred Heart, Air Force, and Army are among the top teams that could dethrone the Tigers from their perch as defending champion. So having them at the friendly confines of the Ritter is a big help. AIC, Canisius, and Bentley are games the Tigers should win no matter where they play. Those three are likely going to be near the bottom of the conference. That RIT will get those teams 4 times is big. Mercyhurst is the wild card of this group. They have a good sized freshman class. They are not likely to have as bad a year as they did last year. And even then, they played the Tigers tough in the second series. RIT should win double digit wins out of the conference games. You need to do that to contend for the title.

RIT will travel to AIC, Canisius, Air Force, Mercyhurst, Bentley, Holy Cross, and UConn. My feeling is that this is favorable for the Tigers. AIC, Canisius, and Bentley are teams likely to be in the bottom of the conference. So RIT should win most of those games. Mercyhurst, Holy Cross, and UConn could be tough games. Holy Cross and Mercyhurst had down years for them. I fully expect that they will be better. UConn is a tough call. They lost a ton of seniors, but they do return a solid goaltender. Air Force will be a tough set. RIT splitting those 4 series will be a good job. RIT should easily be over .500 on the road.

So I look at RIT getting over 17 conference wins easily. Getting 20 wins is not out of the question and I think that will be enough to win the regular season title again.

Schedule analysis - the non conference schedule

2007-08-06T16:44:00.000-07:00

RIT recently announced their schedule. There were the 28 conference games (too many) and a solid set of non-conference games. Let's go through them game by game.

Colgate - It's great to get a road game that many RIT fans can make the trip. Hamilton is about 2 hours or so from Rochester, so it could be one that sees quite a few Corner Crew members make the trip. Colgate had a down year last year, but prior to that they had won 20 or more games 3 straight years. The 'Gate will be a good challenge for RIT, but the Raider could be a little weary as they play Sacred Heart the night before and RIT will be rested. This is definately a competitive game.

Bowling Green - Coach has to be thrilled to get his alma mater in for a home game. It's also a very winnable game for the Tigers. Bowling Green as been near the bottom of the CCHA in recent years. This is a great chance for RIT to get a win over a Big 4 win. Any of those that the Tigers can get will provide a boost in the Pairwise rankings in March.

Cornell - This will be a big college hockey event in Rochester. The Big Red are coming to Blue Cross Arena. The Lynah faithful will travel well and make their presence known. I look at this to be a fun game as I think quite a few Rochecsterians will get a good look at RIT for the first time. Hoepfully the Tigers can put on a good show and some of those fans will come to the Ritter for games.

Marriuci Classic - Talk about a great opportunity. RIT will get to match up against one of the true powers in college hockey in Minnesota. David will have a tough task slaying this goliath. It will give RIT a chance to see where they are in terms of the elites of hockey. The other teams in the field are Boston College and Air Force. They will face one of those teams in the early game on Saturday. RIT will hope to play Boston College in that game, but will more likely get Air Force.

Niagara - The Purple Eagles were a late addition to the schedule. They will travel to the Ritter late in the season. It may serve as a bit of a "Bracket Buster" kind of game as both teams could be near the top of their conferences. A win there will get a nice RPI boost late in the season. That is a great time to get it before finishing out the conference season and into the playoffs. This should be a fun game as RIT looks to break through against them after falling short the last couple years.

Captains for 2007

2007-05-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

I really need to get back on track in blogging.

The captains for this upcoming 2007-08 season have been announced. Simon Lambert, Ricky Walton, and Brent Patry were named.

Simon Lambert was a natural pick. He was one of the captains last year. He was definately a leader on the team. He singlehandedly helped win some games and is one of the best players on the team. Big things will be expected of him as RIT will make their first postseason appearances in Division I

Ricky Walton was a great pick. He was one of the more improved players on the team last year. So much so that he was named the Corner Crew Fan's Choice Award winner. His work ethic will allow him to lead by example. He will make a great pick.

Brent Patry was an interesting choice. He was one of the better defencemen to be sure. I don't know much about his leadership in the lockerroom. But I am comfident that he will be fine.

Get Back to Basics

2007-01-28T13:36:00.000-08:00

A week from past Friday, RIT lost to UConn. They let a 3 goal lead after 1 slip away. Basically, they stopped playing good hockey and seemed to play like they had the game won. Well, UConn just outworked and outplayed RIT after that first period and won in OT.

RIT seemed to learn that you can't take it easy against anyone the following night. RIT won that game 4-2 and looked much better doing so.

Fast forward to this past weekend. RIT played AIC. The last time they met, RIT outscored them 16-3. The made them look terrible. You would think that RIT would have learned the lessons from Friday. I don't think any RIT fans gave them much of a shot.

Well, RIT decided to only play 2 periods over the weekend. Thanks to some great goaltending, that was enough. RIT trailed AIC 2-1 late in the second before RIT rattled off 5 straight goals to win 6-2. The Tigers did not play their kind of hockey. They played a more up and down game condusive to what AIC wanted to do. Only in the 3rd did RIT play it's normal game.

The Tigers seemed to learn their lessons when Saturday started. RIT scored the first 3 goals in the first period. But then several penalties in a row against RIT changed momentum and AIC started to get back into the game. Only some excellant goaltending by Menard allowed RIT to win.

This is a disturbing trend. RIT has only recently been put in the position where winning is expected again. Perhaps they have been checking all the college hockey sites and seeing all the press they have been getting. Everyone keeps writing about how good they are. Hopefilly, they don't think they can just win games by showing up. That certainly is not the case on this level.

I think this weekends games against Canisius are going to be telling. The Griffins are a phyisical team. RIT beat them in their first 2 matchups this year. They will work hard. The Tigers are going to have to outwork them to win. IF RIT can beat them the way they did last time, I think they will be ok. Otherwise, it could get tough holding on to the conference lead.

RIT vrs. Syracuse? Don't best on it

2007-01-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Sometimes, things like your job get in the way of doing some of the things you want to do.

The hot topic this week on the RIT thread seems to be that Syracuse is looking at going Division I in hockey. College Hockey News is reporting that the Orange is investigating how things work.

I'm not going to hold my breath here. Syracuse has a lot on it's plate already athletically. The football team is one of the worst in the Big East. The basketball team is playing pretty well at least, and will likely make the NCAA tournament again. And don't forget that Syracuse already has a great lacrosse program. So, hockey would already be behind in that respect.

We also know that while Syracuse fans are rabid, they won't show as much if the team does not win. Football attendance is going down while the team is losing. The hockey team would take a while to win - especially if they go into a "major" hockey conference. I don't see where Syracuse fans wanting to go to a small conference like Atlantic Hockey. Think they would turn out for an RIT-Syracuse game at SU? Not me. Maybe UConn.

Now if Syracuse can get other Big East members that have club teams to move up and create a Big East hockey conference with UConn, Providence, and Notre Dame - that could cause interesting reprecussions with 2 holes in major conferences. There would be some interesting conference realignment there. This could also get other major conferences to get their hockey teams under their banner (the "dreaded" Big Ten hockey conference. But I think that would be hard to to.

Let's not forget that Syracuse doesn't exactly have a long history of successful AHL teams. The have had several teams at the War Memorial. They also used to have a Syracuse Invitational Tournament (RIT has played there). That folded in part to lack of interest. I don't know if a new NCAA team would succeed where this failed.

In closing, I wouldn't hold my breath on Syracuse making the leap anytime soon.

I believe!

2006-12-10T15:55:00.000-08:00

Coming into the Bentley series, it was clear that these next 8 games were going to be a measuring stick of where RIT stands in the Atlantic Hockey conference. It was pretty much agreed that if they went 4-4, then it would be obvious that they would be on the right track.

Things are a bit better than we could have imagined. After losing the first game of the stretch, they have won 5 in a row. They swept Holy Cross - the defending champions. That opened eyes in the conference. The Tigers were not through. They swept Mercyhurst. And they did it seemingly handily.

What does that mean for this season? Who knows. The goal was to win the regular season title. Can it happen? I believe.

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

On USCHO, there is a thread about what in College Hockey we are thankful for. This is what I posted:

I'm thankful for being DI. When I grew up, I wanted to be a fan of a big time school and go to lots of games. Granted, that was supposed to be football and basketball, as those were the games that were on when I grew up. When it came time to choose a college, I chose RIT after 4 years of Community College (2 degrees). While I would get to go to a couple AHL games a year, I really developed my love for hockey at RIT from the get go. I went to practically every home game in my years there even though the team went through some of their leaner years. They started getting back to some of their successes of yesteryear my senior year when they made it to the DIII Championship game, only to lose. I got a job in the area, and kept going to the games. RIT had many wonderful seasons and was big time for DIII.

Then the day came when it was announced that RIT was joining Atlantic Hockey. There was a lot of discussion regarding that on USCHO. I admit I was on the fence on how I felt. RIT was going from a team that was generally a force in DIII but never good enough to win the National Championship to a completely new level. The press conferece reasurred me that steps would be taken that would make sure that RIT was going to be more than DI in name only and planned to be competitive. After that, I was excited and hoped that RIT would end their season with a bang and take the DIII title. The team fell apart that year after the announcement and didn't get to the conference tournament finals for the first time in 12 years.

Last year was amazing as RIT held it's own in every game and never really got blown out. But the high point was October 28, 2006. The day that RIT announced that they had arrived. RIT beat then #18 St. Lawrence 3-2. I think the rest of the teams on the schedule took notice. But RIT played hard even though they only won 1 other DI game the rest of the year. I saw a game at the famed Lynah Rink. Even though the students were on break, it was still a fun experience.

Now RIT enters their first year of conference play in Atlantic Hockey. RIT cannot play in the conference tournament yet, even though the tournament will be held at the Blue Cross Arena. Coach Wilson wants to win the regular season title. RIT has already matched their DI win total from last year this year and are 5th in the confernece standings. They have a good chance to double if not triple their DI win total with arguably some of the best goaltenders in the conference. I feel that RIT will soon be a top program in the conference. While many of you don't feel that the AHA is big time, consider this perspective.

In essence, I am thankful to have seen this dream come true.

Happy Thanksgiving. For the first time in a couple years, RIT does not play the weekend after Thanksgiving, giving them time to prepare for Holy Cross. For those travelling, drive safe.

First Quarter Grades

2006-11-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

We are about a quarter of the way through the season and it's time to hand out some grades. So here we go.

Offiense: A
This area is where there has been the most improvement has been shown. Even if you consider that RIT scored 16 of their 34 goals against AIC, they have generated much more chances and have scored more goals than they were last year. Another encouraging sign is that the scoring is more evenly distributed. Last year, Simon Lambert was great - but he really was the only consistant scorer and only double digit goal scorer last year. This year, there are several players that look like they will get to double digits. Matt Smith leads the team with 5 goals. Steve Pizizzotto, Anton Kharin, and Jeff Hofstetter have 4 goals. Having more weapons means that RIT's opponents have more lines to worry about than just Lambert's line. If this trend keeps up, RIT will have a very successful season.

Defense: B
The defense is still giving up a quite a few shots - almost 37 per game. However, they are doing better in conference play, where it is 32.4 shots allowed per game. They are getting better in blocking shots as well. They make good effort in making sure that the shots allowed have not been quality shots for the most part. One thing that has been the stalwart of the defense in the penalty kill. The Tigers have excellant in that department. They allow goals on only 13.5% of the opponent's chances - and only 10.4% during conference play. Considering RIT has been taking a lot of penalties, that has been huge. On the +/- side, RIT as a team is +24, with defensemen Al Mazur, Matt Harris, and Bobby Ramond leading the way with a +4. Only 6 players are in the negatives, so this definately has been a team effort.

Goaltending: A
What more can be said about Jocelyn Guimond that has not been said before. He may be the best goaltender not on a "Big 4" conference team. About the only thing he has not yet done is get a shutout. He has a sparkling 2.68 GAA and a .929 save percentage. He has allowed only 9 even strength goals on the season. Louis Menard seems to have been a solid backup. He did have a bad game against Cornell, but he was sharp in games against Clarkson and AIC. He has even stopped a penalty shot and has a shutout. Overall, he has a 3.02 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. This tandem could be pretty formidable as the season goes on.

Things to improve on: Obviously, things are not perfect for RIT. There are some things that do concern fans and I'm sure Coach Wilson as well. RIT is losing more faceoffs than they have been winning. Only a handful of players have won more faceoffs than they lost. Another major concern is the penalties. It's true that the game is being called tighter in general. However, RIT is averaging 12.4 penalties a game for a whopping 30.3 PIMs per game. That number must go down for RIT to be competitive against better teams.

Overall grade: A Nobody really knew what to expect this season. Being 3-1-1 in conference is a good start. Also, the Tigers have only had 2 home NCAA games. They have a chance to boost their record when more of the home games kick in. RIT looks to be on their way to a successful season and possibly becoming a force in the AHA. The next stretch of 8 games against Bentley, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, and Army will go a long way towards determining where RIT is competitively with the rest of the AHA.

Don't Dump on Menard

2006-10-31T16:22:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-10-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

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

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Bentley

2006-09-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

Next up on the Atlantic Hockey preview is at the team I pick to be #4. That spot is set for The Bentley Falcons.

Bentley made a big statement last year when they made a run in the Atlantic Hockey tournament finals last year. This year, they look to go one better. They did lose quite a bit of seniors to graduation. However, they still have their offensive threats from last year. The top three scorers on the team were freshman. That makes this team a possible contender, especially if the underclassmen continue to improve.

This is a team that could be on the verge of breaking through top be one of the elite teams in the conference. The freshman got some great experience, prticularly in their playoff run. They have a very good goalie. They will be my darkhorse team to win the regular season title and the automatic berth come Atlantic Hockey tournament time.

Key number: 3 - The top three scorers on the team were freshman. That is a good sign for this team now and in the future.

Key returnee: Ray Jean (G) - He posted some outstanding numbers in leading Bentley as far as they went. He had a solid 2.86 goals against average and a ,916 save percentage. He will need to at least duplicate those numbers for Bentley to make that run again.

Player to watch: Jeff Gumaer (F) - He was the second leading scorer on the team as a freshman. However, he lead the team in goals with 16.

Key loss: Paul Markarian (F) - He had 32 career goals and 75 career points last year. The forward was also the team captain last year.

Key series: 12/20-21 at Sacred Heart. This starts a stretch of where Bentley plays 6 of their 8 games against the top three teams in the conference.

Projected record: 15-13

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Air Force

2006-09-24T18:11:00.000-07:00

My Atlantic Hockey preview takes a trip out west for this edition. We go all the way to Colorado Springs for the #5 team in the conference - Air Force.

Air Force jumped conferences from the CHA last year to play in Atlantic Hockey. They were a middle of the road team there, but could be more of a contender here in Atlantic Hockey. They do bring a tough home ice advantage with their altitude. I think this will be an issue, particularly for teams in the bottom end of the conference where there is no depth. I do think they will struggle with upper end Atlantic Hockey teams as they adjust to the new teams.

Air Force brings back most of their offence, which was good for 2.88 goals per game. Their best scorers are underclassmen. However, their goaltending will need some work. The goalies last year had a combined .857 save percentage last year. That will have to get better for the Falcons to be a contender this year.

Key number: 11 - The number of goals lost to graduation.

Key returnee: Brian Reese (F) - Had a breakout season last year. He posted 10 goals and 8 assists last year. For his college career so far, he has 11 goals and 15 assists.

Player to watch: Eric Ehn (F) - He lead the team with 14 goals and 21 assists last year. He also has 57 career points and is only a sophomore. Big things could come from him.

Key loss: Brook Turnquist (D) - He was the leading scorer among seniors, with 4 goals and 11 assists. Brook had 55 career points from the blue line. He was also the team captain.

Key series: 1/19-20 against Army. Army swept Air Force last year. The Falcons will want to avenge that on their home ice.

Projected record: 14-14

Atllantic Hockey Preview - RIT

2006-09-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

My Atlantic Hockey preview rolls on with my pick to be #6 in the standings when it is all said and done - RIT

The Tigers had a relatively successful first year of Division 1 hockey. They battled hard, and didn't lose a game by more than 3 goals in spite of some pretty tough teams. RIT will again have a young team, but a little older than last year. One thing RIT will need is a bit more scoring than last year, particularly when it comes to the power play. Much of the recruits brought in were to help fix this problem.

RIT will get an early chance to make a big statement about where they fit into the conference. They will play 6 of their first 9 conference games at home. If the Tigers get off to a good start, they will indeed prove that they will be a force to be reckoned with in conference.

Key number: 10 - The number of 1 goal losses the Tigers suffered. They only posted 1 such victory. RIT will need to improve on that to have success.

Key returnee: Simon Lambert (F) - He was an amazing scoring machine for the Tigers. He scored 16 goals and 18 assists. He ranked 22nd in points per game and 11th in goals per game nationally. He will be expected to help carry the Tiger offense again.

Player to watch: Jocelyn Guimond (G) - The numbers aren't spectacular - .907 save percentage and 3.32 goals against average. But he made his mark with his 66 save performance in a win over St. Lawrence.

Key loss: Darren Doherty (F) - He was third on the team in scoring with 8 goals and 11 assists. He was also a co-captain.

Key series: 2/16-17 home against Mercyhurst - It will be a chance to see late in the year how close RIT is to being able to play with one of the consistantly better teams in AHA.

Projected record: 13-15

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Army

2006-09-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

Our tour of the Atlantic Hockey previews leads us to my pick to be #7 - the Army Black Knights.

The Black Knights will look to improve on their very solid 10-12-6 record from last year. They will have a young squad going in, similar to last year. They did lose some offense, and their top goalie from last year. The returning goalies played 2 games. One of them will have to step up to repeat the moderate success they had last year. They may need to find some offense as well.

Army could make some noise early in the schedule, though. They play 3 games against American International, 2 against UConn, and Sacred Heart in their first 6 games. If they win these games, it could make for a very good season for the Black Knights.

Key number: 4 - The number of seniors on the team. They will have to lead the team to any success they have.

Key returnee: Chase Podsiad (D) - Scored 7 goals from the blue line. He added 13 assists to be among the scoring leaders for the team.

Player to watch: Luke Flicek (F) - Leading scorer from last year returns. Flicek had 9 goals and 16 assists last year.

Key loss: Brad Roberts (G) - Played 36 games last year. He had ok stats - .909 save percentage and 2.52 goals against average. What makes this loss key is that the remaining goalies don't have much experience.

Key series: 1/29-30 @ Air Force - These military academies usually play each other during the season, now they are conference games.

Projected record: 11-17

Atlantic Hockey Preview - Canisius

2006-09-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

This is the latest team in my Atlantic Hockey preview. I pick Canisius College to finish as the 8th place team this year.

The Golden Griffins have typically been a tough team in conference play. However, last year was bad as they went 8-18-2. This included a 9 game losing streak in conference in the middle of the season. This lead to major changes in the program. Yhey only have 15 returning players on their site. They have quite a few seniors though, and they will have to mentor the whopping 15 recruits on the Heisenberg site.

This team will have some tough games out of the blocks. They start their conference play against Sacred Heart, followed by a game against RIT, and two at Holy Cross. I think this team will get some surprise wins at the end of the year. But the early part of the schedule will doom them to the lower half of the conference.

Key number: 15 - the number of recruits on the Heisenberg site. How well they work as a team will be key to the Griffins season.

Key returnee: Joey Coccimiglio (F) - He is one of the top returning scorers. He set career highs in assists and points last year. He will need to step it up a little more this year.

Player to watch: Michael Cohen (F) - Cohen had 12 goals and 20 assists to lead the team in points. He also has 79 points in his career.

Key newcomer: Bryce Luker (G) - He has a great chance to be the Grifs #1 goalie. Bryce transfered out of Michigan Tech. If he secures that spot, it will be a big boost to the team.

Key loss: Andrew Dowe (F) - Andrew was second on the team in goals last year with 11. He has posted 62 career points.

Key series: 10/27 - home against RIT. This is their best chance to win an early season conference game.

Projected record: 9-19

Atlantic Hockey Preview - UConn

2006-09-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

This is the next team in my Atlantic Hockey preview and team I pock to be the 9th place team - The University of Connecticut.

For as much of a brand name that Connecticut has in other sports, it is surprising how little success that the Huskies have had in hockey. They have been under .500 in conference play all three years. They have a senior laden team this year, with 12 listed on their roster. However, the schedule does not do them much favors. They play conference tournament finalists Holy Cross and Bentley 4 times. They also have Sacred Heart 4 times as well.

The previous years have had an up and down feel with it, and I think this could as well. The seniors will have to play very well if this team will break the .500 mark. With the schedule breaking the way it is, I don't see that happening. I look for another season similar to last year.

Key number: 4 - Number of wins over Sacred Heart last year. Truly an odd stat since they only won 11 games last year.

Key returnee: Matt Scherer (F) - He has 40 career goals, the most of any returning player. He also has 29 assists on his career.

Player to watch: Chris Myhro (F) - He has an excellant freshman year, scoring 13 goals and 14 assists to place 3rd in scoring on the team.

Key newcomer: Alec Kirschner (F) - He tallied 52 points in 44 games in the EJHL. He will also add speed to the team.

Key loss: Chris Uber (F) - Had second most points on the team last year with 28 points (8-20).

Key series: 10/20-21 - home against Army. The Huskies will need a good start to conference season.

Projected record: 8-20

Atlantic Hockey Preview - AIC

2006-09-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

This will start my preview of the Atlantic Hockey season. I will go in reverse order of predicted order of finish. So, I will start with the team that I predict will be #10 - The American International College Yellowjackets.

What can be said about this consistant celler dweller. The Yellowjackets have won 15 games total in conference play in the last three years. Last year, they won 6 conference games, which is a high for them. They also scored more goals than they did in conference play as well. They are making some strides towards respecatability. But they are still behind everyone in the conference. The recruiting class (per the Heisenberg site) does seem to address the scoring needs that this team has. This team will susprise some teams, but will lose more than they win again. This team will get better as the season goes on. I just think there is too much of a talent gap for them to move up in the standings.

Key number: 64 - goals scored in conference play. That ranked last in the conference.

Key returnee: Tom Fenton (G) - His stats weren't that bad. He allowed 3.51 goals per game with a .900 save percentage. But he faced almost 36 shots per game. If he can repeat the performance, and the offense picks up, he will get more wins.

Player to watch: Jereme Tendler (F) - He was the leading scorer for AIC, with 15 goals and 11 assists. He also lead the team in power play goals and game winning goals.

Key newcomer: Dean Yakura (F) - He had 34 goals and 40 assists. His offense will be huge to help Tendler in the offensive end.

Key loss: Andy Walbert (F) - He had the most career points of anyone on last years roster.

Key series: 2/16-17 home and home against UConn. That could help determine who gets home ice in the 8/9 game of the tournament.

Record: 6-22

Welcome to my blog

2006-08-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

I wanted to try something differant this year. So, I decided to start a blog to sound off about RIT Hockey and other college hockey related topics. Ideally, I will try to post after every weekend series. I will probably comment about various other Atlantic Hockey teams and what went on that weekend. That will be the bulk of the content here.

Starting next month, I will start working on my own preview of the Atlantic Hockey season and my preseason picks for the conference.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it, and feel free to comment.