The Unofficial Colgate Hockey Blog

Game Recap: Colgate at Cornell (Jan. 27)

2012-01-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

Game 26: Colgate at Cornell
Date: Fri., Jan. 27, 2012
Site: Lynah Rink; Ithaca, N.Y.
Score: Colgate 2 Cornell 1
Records: Colgate 13-9-3 (7-5-1 ECAC), Cornell 11-5-4 (8-2-3 ECAC)

Colgate Game Story
Cornell Game Story
Ithaca Journal Game Story
Ithaca Journal Photo Gallery
Box Score

Quick Analysis
Now, that is how you debate. That was certainly quite the response by the Raiders after what transpired last Saturday night at home against Dartmouth. Colgate played a full 60-minute game and perhaps one of their best defensive games of the season in a hostile environment.

The Good
*This was probably Colgate’s finest defensive effort of the season. And this doesn’t really just have to do with shots on goal. The Raiders frustrated the Big Red throughout the night at both ends of the ice hounding the puck carrier and keeping active sticks near the puck and in passing lanes. All six defensemen stood strong in their own zone winning board battles in the corners, especially in the third period, and not allowing Cornell easy access to the high-traffic area. The Raiders also blocked a good number of shots. The best defensive job came in the third period in the neutral zone as Cornell could not gain speed and easily enter the zone to set up offense, the Red were forced into a dump-and-chase style which Colgate easily fought off. All 18 skaters should be applauded for the team defensive effort.

*Just flat-out wanting the game more. It seemed from the get-go that Colgate came out with a fire in the belly and that fire never went out through the entire 60 minutes. The Raiders were hustling from one end to the other, constantly winning 50-50 puck battles, shooting the puck on goal from all angles in the offensive zone, being strong with the puck in the defensive end and the neutral zone and simply firing on all cylinders. Cornell never had that jump and Colgate came out and socked Cornell in the mouth figuratively. The Raiders never seemed to lose that wanton desire to win the game. The only time Cornell really threatened was in the second half of the second period.

*Strong road first and third periods. The Raiders came flying out of the locker room and it was clear from the start that this was going to be a different Colgate team than we saw last Saturday late against Dartmouth. Colgate flat-out dominated the first period and deserved everything that went with a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. And to round off the 60-minute effort, the Raiders clamped down defensively in the third while still counter-punching and trying to score. Colgate’s defensive acumen in the third helped hold Cornell to just one shot.

*Shooting the puck. Now, for those that did not see the game and just look at the box, you’ll see 18 shots and think that we’re crazy here. However keep in mind that that is shots on goal and not total shots. The Raiders fired the puck at Andy Iles from every angle possible on Friday night. Cornell blocked a good number of shots, other tries were ripped wide or high and sometimes shots went off the side of the goal; one hard shot hit the side of the net to the right of Andy Iles and knocked up the water bottle. That is what you have to do to defeat Cornell because while only a few shots do get through, the more actual shots you take, the more chance you have of scoring.

*Penalty kill. The wheels have been put back on the Colgate penalty kill which turned in another outstanding effort on Friday night holding Cornell to an 0-for-5 output. The Big Red did not record a power play shot in the second or third period. The Raiders also added their ninth short-handed goal of the season when Chris Wagner converted on a pretty 2-on-1 with Austin Smith that involved several crisp back-and-forth passes. The Raiders also switched up personnel somewhat so that the Smith-Wagner combination was not run into the ground. All of the sudden, Colgate is 9-for-9 on the PK in the last two games and the Raiders have killed off 10-straight opponent power plays going back to the Harvard tilt last Friday.

*Converting on chances. This is a little different from shooting because you can have 100+ shots on goal and still not be able to convert. The Raiders made the most of their chances and buried two of seven shots on goal in the first period to the tune of a 2-0 lead. The first came on a 2-on-1 with Wagner and Smith that nearly resulted in another overpassing situation that we’ve seen lately but Wagner pulled the trigger at the exact right time on an easy one-time shot. The same can be said on the second goal where Joe Wilson buried a perfect one-time deflection past Andy Iles at the end of a rush into the offensive zone from the bench where he took a picture-perfect pass in front of the net from Kurtis Bartliff who had won the puck in the right corner.

*Winning the wall battles. This just wasn’t happening earlier in the month and the opposition was coming away with pucks at a high frequency when a tie-up ensued along the wall or in the corners. Particularly the Colgate defensemen did a strong job in their own end of pinning up the bigger Cornell forwards and taking the puck away. Most noticeable were Spiro Goulakos, Corbin McPherson and Thomas Larkin though all six defensemen, Brendan Corcoran included, did their share of winning pucks below the goal line and outmaneuvering of Cornell in the corners. Special mention should also be made of Colgate’s power forwards – Matt Firman and Nick Prockow who showed up in a big way with offensive zone puck possession and not allowing themselves to be easily taken off the puck. Prockow’s tenacity late in the first led directly to Colgate’s second goal.

*Fighting fire with fire. And in this case, that means being physical right along with Cornell. The Raiders never turned away from taking the body and this was a more physical Colgate team than we’ve seen in some time. Obviously playing against Cornell might have something to do with that but the Raiders looked for body checks all over the ice. Mark Nasca and Billy Rivellini each did a superb job generating energy with finishing their checks and Spiro Goulakos threw several strong hits.

*Eric Mihalik did not have to be spectacular on Friday night. He just had to stop the shots that were coming at him and the sophomore did just that. After being nearly run out of the building at Quinnipiac several weeks ago, Mihalik has picked up his game and allowed a combined three goals in his last two appearances against Harvard and Cornell. When the Raiders are good defensively, Mihalik just needs to be strong in goal and that is exactly what he did.

The Bad
*Really there isn’t much to talk about here. The power play though continues to be a sore spot. It’s now 0-for-13 dating back to the Quinnipiac game. Colgate had just two power plays on Friday night and both came out of 4-on-4 situations so there was no one full two-minute chance. But each power play ran at least a minute and the Raiders were unsuccessful. Obviously with a win the struggle on the power play can be forgotten but eventually the Raiders will need to churn the power play wheels into goals.

*Couple untimely penalties. And these came in a game where for the most part the officials let the two teams play and there weren’t a lot of infractions called. Untimely penalties being two whistles in the opening three minutes of a period, one in the first and then one again in the second period and then two in the final five minutes of regulation. As in the past, those types of things have led to disaster at Cornell however this time it did not.

This and That…
*Various streaks were broken on Friday night – first win on CBS Sports Network, first win over Cornell since Jan. 25, 2007, first win at Lynah Rink since Jan. 30, 2004, first win in a one-game goal since October, Cornell’s first Friday night loss this season and Colgate’s first win in the 2012 calendar year breaking an 0-5-1 slump.

*Colgate’s nine short-handed goals rank first in the nation ahead of Boston College, Providence and Boston University, all of which have eight short-handed goals.

*As per usual at Lynah Rink, the game was played in front of a sell-out crowd. There was a moderate-sized Colgate contingent sitting across from the student section. The Colgate pep band was in attendance.

*The Raiders nearly scored three goals on Friday night. A potential goal in the third period on a Chris Wagner stuff attempt by disallowed by the officials on the ice and waved off by the referee below the goal line. Wagner attempted to jam the puck past Cornell’s Andy Iles who in the attempt was pushed back into the goal. Colgate’s Austin Smith, skating behind the goal at the time raised his hands in the air believing the puck to have gone over the goal line however there was no goal light or ruling of goal on the ice. After some discussion play resumed and there was no review. No argument came from the Colgate bench.

*The last time Colgate won at Lynah Rink in Jan. 2004, the Raiders followed up with a win over the Big Red the following night at Starr Rink in Hamilton.

*With a goal on Friday night, Chris Wagner reached the 50-point mark for his career. Wagner has hit the half-century mark on 19 goals and 31 assists through 65 games. His 50 career points are the third-highest of any Raider behind Austin Smith (142) and Robbie Bourdon (64).

*Austin Smith’s primary assist on Chris Wagner’s goal moved him into sole possession of 22nd place on Colgate’s all-time points list with 142 career points. The assist, Smith’s 75th in four seasons, inched him just past Ron Fogarty who now occupies 23rd place. The senior from Dallas is six points behind Shawn Lillie ‘89, Colgate’s top American-born scorer.

2011-2012 Season, Games 26/27: Colgate vs. Cornell

2012-01-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Game 26: Colgate (12-9-3, 6-5-1 ECAC) at Cornell (11-4-4, 8-1-3 ECAC)
Date: Fri., Jan. 27, 2012
Time: 7:30 p.m. (7:36 p.m. TV)
Site: Lynah Rink; Ithaca, N.Y.
Radio: 93.9 FM WKXZ Norwich
Internet Broadcast: WKXZfm.com (http://www.wkxzfm.com), TEAMLINE (http://www.teamline.cc)
Television Broadcast: CBS Sports Network
Live Stats: http://www.cornellbigred.com

Game 27: Colgate vs. Cornell
Date: Sat., Jan. 28, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.
Radio: 93.9 FM WKXZ Norwich
Internet Broadcast: WKXZfm.com (http://www.wkxzfm.com), TEAMLINE (http://www.teamline.cc)
Internet Video: http://www.gocolgateraiders.com/showcase
Live Stats: http://www.gocolgateraiders.com

Opponent: Cornell University
Nickname: Big Red
Location: Ithaca, N.Y.
Conference: ECAC Hockey
2010-2011 Record: 16-15-3 (11-9-2 ECAC)
League Finish: Tied for fourth place with Rensselaer and Princeton; earned fourth seed based on tiebreakers
Playoffs: Defeated Quinnipiac, two games to one, in the ECAC quarterfinals and then shut out Dartmouth, 3-0, in the ECAC semifinals. Lost to Yale, 6-0, in the ECAC championship game.
2011-2012 Preseason Rank: Third (Coaches), Third (Media)

Head Coach: Mike Schafer (Cornell 1986)
Experience: 17th season at Cornell
Record: 324-177-60 through 17 seasons
Assistant Coaches: Ben Syer and Topher Scott
Did You Know: Current Cornell assistant coach Topher Scott was a junior forward for the Big Red the last time Colgate defeated Cornell. Scott assisted on both of Cornell’s goals in a 4-2 loss to Colgate on Jan. 25, 2007 at Starr Rink.

All-Time Series: 74-54-12 Cornell (140 games)
Home: 26-24-5 Cornell
Road: 38-20-5 Cornell
Neutral: 10-10-2 Tied

First Meeting: Feb. 12, 1921 (Cornell 2-0; Ithaca, N.Y.)
Last Meeting: Jan. 22, 2011 (Cornell 5-2; Lynah Rink; Ithaca, N.Y.)
Last Colgate Win: Jan. 25, 2007 (Colgate 4-2; Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.)
Last Cornell Win: Jan. 22, 2011 (Cornell 5-2; Lynah Rink, Ithaca, N.Y.)

Series Notes
*After this weekend’s games, Cornell will be Colgate’s most-played opponent with 142 all-time meetings between the two schools. However, Clarkson will tie Cornell for Colgate’s most-played foe in mid-February when the Raiders travel up to Cheel Arena. In terms of the most-faced opponent, the top four for Colgate are currently Clarkson, Cornell, St. Lawrence and Rensselaer. No other teams have played against Colgate more than 100 times.

*Cornell has a 12-game unbeaten streak against Colgate that dates back to the 2006-07 season. Cornell is 9-0-3 against Colgate in those 12 games; one of the three ties came last season at Starr Rink when the Red and Raiders skated to a 1-1 overtime deadlock. Four games in the last 12 have gone to overtime, only one has been decided – a 2-1 Cornell win at Lynah Rink in Jan. 2008.

*The Raiders have not won at Cornell’s James Lynah Rink in their last seven trips to Ithaca’s East Hill. The last time Colgate triumphed over Cornell at Lynah Rink was on Jan. 30, 2004 (4-1). The Raiders wound up sweeping the 2003-04 season series from Cornell.

*Cornell’s current 12-game unbeaten streak is impressive however the Big Red amassed a 26-game winning streak that lasted from 1964 through the end of the 1970s. The streak came to an end on Jan. 8, 1980 at Lynah Rink when Colgate outlasted Cornell 6-4.

*The outdoor portion of the all-time series was dominated by the Maroon and White from Hamilton. Prior to the construction of both Starr Rink and Lynah Rink, the Raiders were 18-7-1 against the Big Red. The series ended in 1948 and then was resumed when Lynah Rink was built in 1958.

*The Big Red and the Raiders are scheduled to play one another just twice this season, on Friday and Saturday night. Last year, Cornell and Colgate played a third time, a non-conference game at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Two years before in 2008-09, the two sides met in the championship game of the 2008 Florida College Classic in Estero, Fla. And one year prior to that, Colgate and Cornell squared off in the consolation game of the 2008 ECAC championships at the Times Union Center.

*Neutral site games between Colgate and Cornell have been played at Playland in Rye, N.Y., the Syracuse Coliseum, Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, Dayton Arena at Bowdoin College, Madison Square Garden, the Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse, the Glens Falls Civic Center, Nassau Coliseum, Boston Garden, the Times Union Center, German Arena in Estero, Fla., and the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Last Game – Cornell 5 Colgate 2 (Jan. 22, 2011; James Lynah Rink; Ithaca, N.Y.)
Colgate Goals: Austin Smith (Corbin McPherson, Mike Leidl), Austin Smith (Chris Wagner, Kurtis Bartliff)
Scoring by Period: Colgate 1-1-0, Cornell 2-0-3
Shots: Cornell 23-22; Colgate outshot Cornell 15-3 in second, Cornell outshot Colgate 9-2 in third
Power Play: Colgate 0-for-8, Cornell 1-for-6
Goalies: Eric Mihalik (Colgate) 18 saves on 22 shots, Andy Iles (Cornell) 20 saves on 22 shots

Scoring Against Opponent
Colgate
Austin Smith (Sr. F) 4-1-5
Robbie Bourdon (Jr. F) 0-3-3
Thomas Larkin (Jr. D) 0-3-3
Kevin McNamara (Sr. D) 0-3-3
Chris Wagner (So. F) 1-1-2
Jeremy Price (So. D) 1-1-2
Nick Prockow (Sr. F) 1-1-2
Austin Mayer (Sr. F) 1-0-1
Kurtis Bartliff (Jr. F) 0-1-1
Corbin McPherson (Sr. D) 0-1-1
Mike Leidl (Jr. D) 0-1-1
*Alex Evin 0-3-0, 4.14 GAA, .820 SV %, 50/61, 159:30
*Eric Mihalik 0-1-1, 2.93 GAA, .878 SV %, 36/41, 123:05

Cornell
Nick D’Agostino (Jr. D) 1-3-4
Greg Miller (Jr. F) 0-4-4
Sean Collins (Sr. F) 2-1-3
Locke Jillson (Sr. F) 1-2-3
Braden Birch (Jr. D) 0-2-2
Eric Axell (Jr. F) 1-1-2
John Esposito (Jr. F) 1-0-1
Sean Whitney (Sr. D) 1-0-1
Kirill Gotovets (So. D) 0-1-1
*Andy Iles 1-0-1, 2.51 GAA, .878 SV %, 36/41, 119:57

Cornell – Leading Scorers (Current)
Nick D’Agostino (Jr. D) 8-9-17
Brian Ferlin (Fr. F) 7-10-17
Greg Miller (Jr. F) 6-11-17
Sean Collins (Sr. F) 6-8-14
Joakim Ryan (Fr. D) 5-6-11
Joel Lowry (Fr. F) 5-6-11
John Esposito (Jr. F) 4-7-11
*Andy Iles (So. G) 11-4-4, 2.02 GAA, .922 SV %

Cornell – Top Returning Players from 2010-2011
Greg Miller (Jr. F) 4-25-29
Nick D’Agostino (Jr. D) 7-10-17
Sean Collins (Sr. F) 7-8-15
Locke Jillson (Sr. F) 5-8-13
John Epsosito (Jr. F) 8-4-12
Braden Birch (Jr. D) 2-6-8
Andy Iles (So. G) 8-7-2, 2.49 GAA, .912 SV %

Cornell – Key Losses
Joe Devin (F) 17-10-27, Career: 116 games
Tyler Roeszler (F) 12-13-25
Mike Devin (D) 6-10-16, Career: 132 games
Jordan Kary (F) 4-7-11
Patrick Kennedy (F) 2-7-9, Career: 129 games
Dan Nicholls (F) 0-6-6, Career: 101 games
Mike Garman (G) 8-8-1, 2.21 GAA, .928 SV %

Cornell – Key Additions
Brian Ferlin (F)
Joakim Ryan (D)
Joel Lowry (F)
Cole Bardreau (F)
Madison Dias (F)

Connections
*Colgate’s Austin Smith and Cornell’s Locke Jillson and Keir Ross are all graduates of the New Alliance Bulldogs hockey program in Texas. Jillson and Smith both grew up in Dallas while Ross is from McKinney, about a 45-minute drive north.

*Cornell’s Kirill Gotovets and Colgate’s Nathan Sinz were teammates for one season (2008-09) at Shattuck-St. Mary’s.

*Colgate’s John Lidgett and Cornell’s Joel Lowry are both graduates of the Calgary’s Summit Hockey Academy. Another graduate of the Summit Hockey Academy is Austin Smith – no, not the one from Colgate but instead a goaltender for the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos.

*Cornell’s Madison Dias and Colgate’s John Lidgett were teammates briefly last year with Canada West at the 2010 World Junior A Challenge.

*Colgate’s Joe Wilson and Cornell’s Kevin Cole are both products of the Mid State Youth Hockey Association. Other MYHA alumni include Dustin Brown of the Los Angeles Kings, Tim Connelly of the Buffalo Sabres and Brian Gionta of the Montreal Canadians.

*For one game in the 2007-08 British Columbia Hockey League season, Colgate’s Austin Smith and Alex Evin were teammates with Cornell’s Dustin Mowrey. The current Cornell sophomore was then around 16-17 when he skated for the Vees. Mowrey went on to play the next two full seasons with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies.

Loose Pucks – Cornell
*The Big Red have the nation’s longest unbeaten streak at seven games (4-0-3). Cornell has not lost since a 5-2 setback to Massachusetts at the Florida College Classic in Estero. In six games played in the 2012 calendar year, Cornell is 3-0-3.

*Over the last three weekends, Cornell has earned a Friday night victory and then a Saturday tie. That includes Friday wins over Colorado College, Quinnipiac and Dartmouth and ties against Colorado College, Princeton and Harvard. It should be noted that Cornell is undefeated on Friday night’s this season with an 8-0-0 record.

*Cornell is ranked in the top 10 of both national polls. The Red sit sixth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 15 and ninth in the USCHO.com Top 20. It is the highest Cornell has been ranked all season. The Ithacans are also 11th in the PairWise (only ECAC team) and 16th in the KRACH.

*Head coach Mike Schafer has a very young team with 15 total underclassmen – six sophomores and nine freshmen. The initial Cornell Class of 2015 included 10 players however frosh Philipe Hudon left school due to medical issues and he is now skating closer to home in the Quebec Major Junior League.

*Not only does Cornell have a seven-game unbeaten streak but the team is 10-2-4 in its last 16 games. Cornell has been on a tear since a 5-4 loss at Brown in early November. The only two losses since then have come to Hockey East opponents in neutral site games – Boston University (MSG) and UMass (Florida).

*Visitors have not done a lot of scoring at Lynah Rink this season. Cornell has outscored opponents 20-10 on Ithaca’s East Hill. Five of those 10 goals came in one game when Mercyhurst stunned Cornell, 5-4, in the Red’s season opener. In league games, Cornell has outscored opponents 15-5. St. Lawrence, Clarkson, Princeton and Quinnipiac were all shut out at Lynah.

*While Cornell is unbeaten in its’ last seven games, the Big Red has had a problem hanging onto the lead. Last weekend, despite three points, Cornell coughed up leads of 2-0 and 3-2 against Dartmouth and 1-0 and 2-1 to Harvard. The weekend before, the Red let a 3-1 lead slip away at Princeton and that ended as a tie. And at Colorado College on the second night of a home-and-home, Cornell was 30 seconds away from sweeping the Tigers when CC potted the game-tying goal.

*In typical Cornell fashion, the Big Red have played a myriad of one-goal games. Twelve of Cornell’s 19 games have been decided by one goal or less. In those games, Cornell is 5-3-4. The Big Red have not lost a one-goal game since Nov. 26 to Boston University. The Terriers won “Red Hot Hockey” 2-1 on a goal (The Tebow goal) in overtime.

*When scoring first overall, Cornell is 10-2-2. In ECAC games, Cornell is 7-0-2 when drawing first blood.

*Cornell’s four overall defeats are tied with first nationally-ranked Minnesota Duluth for the fewest losses this season.

*When scoring three goals or more, Cornell is 9-2-2. With fewer than three goals, the Red has a 2-2-2 record. And when holding the opposition to two goals or less, Cornell is 9-2-2.

*Goaltender Andy Iles has played just about every minute of every game for Cornell this season. The sophomore has been Cornell’s only goaltender. Back-up’s Vincenzo Marozzi and Omar Kanji have not played. Iles is third nationally with a 1.97 goals against average. He has pitched several different shutout streaks this season including one shutout string at Lynah Rink that lasted over five games and 312 minutes. Most interesting is that he did not record his first career shutout until Nov. 18 against Princeton.

*Forward Brian Ferlin leads all ECAC Hockey rookies with 17 points while defenseman Nick D’Agostino tops the league rearguards with six power play goals. D’Agostino and Ferlin along with forward Greg Miller each have 17 points this season.

*Nick D’Agostino and Colgate’s Austin Smith each have five game-winning goals.

*Cornell’s scoring defense is allowing 2.11 goals per game overall and 1.75 goals per game in ECAC contests.

*One of Cornell’s weaknesses has been the penalty kill. The Ithacans have allowed 20 power play goals this season and they have a PK conversion rate of 74.7%. Though against ECAC teams, that number is 81.5%.

*The Big Red has outscored opponents overall 37-21 in the first two periods.

Loose Pucks – Colgate
*Last year at this time (Jan. 27), Colgate was 3-19-2 and 0-10-2 in ECAC Hockey coming off of the home-and-home with Cornell. Even with the recent losing skid, that’s still a nine-win differential between 2011 and 2012. The Raiders also sat in last place in ECAC Hockey and currently the team is tied for fourth, just one point behind third-place Quinnipiac.

*The peloton is tightening after last weekend. Seven points separate third-place Quinnipiac from last-place Rensselaer with five weekends remaining in the ECAC Hockey regular season. Princeton and Quinnipiac will resume league play next weekend.

*The Raiders carry a six-game winless streak into Lynah Rink on Friday night. Colgate is 0-5-1 in its last six games with the lone point coming from a 2-2 overtime stalemate with Harvard last Friday night at Starr Rink. Colgate has yet to win in 2012.

*During the winless stretch, Colgate has been outscored 27-13 and lost games twice where it has had the lead through two periods. Three of the six games have also been decided by one goal or less.

*Breaking down Colgate’s 13 goals in 2012, nine of the 13 have come from Austin Smith, Chris Wagner and Joe Wilson. The other four goals have been scored by Kurtis Bartliff, Matt Firman, Spiro Goulakos and Corbin McPherson. Overall, Smith, Wagner and Wilson have combined for 38 of Colgate’s 74 goals which are more than half.

*Last Saturday against Dartmouth, Colgate had at least four skaters score at least one goal each for the eighth time this season. It was also the second time four different skaters lit the lamp in a game versus the Big Green. Prior to Dartmouth, Dec. 30 against Canisius was the last time four players had at least one goal.

*With Saturday’s loss to Dartmouth, the Raiders are 5-1-5 in their last 10 overtime games. Colgate’s core senior class (not including K. McNamara and Mayer) have played in an astonishing 45 overtime games. Remember, the seniors as freshmen set an NCAA Division I record with 19 overtime tilts in a single season.

*Friday night has been Colgate’s best night. The Raiders are 8-3-1 on Friday (Cornell as mentioned is 8-0-0). Colgate’s last Friday win came on Dec. 30 against Canisius. CU is 0-2-1 in its last three Friday contests.

*The loss to Dartmouth was also a one-goal game. The Raiders are now 3-4-3 in games decided by one goal or less. Colgate ripped off one-goal victories against Nebraska-Omaha, Miami (Ohio) and Niagara all in October yet has not triumphed in a one-goal game since. Though, comparatively speaking to last season, the Raiders were 4-11 in one-goal games.

*Austin Smith leads the nation in overall goals (24), goals per game (1.00) and short-handed goals (five). Smith is tied for second in overall national points (38), tied for third in points per game (1.50) and he is tied for fourth in game-winning goals (four). Chris Wagner is also high in the national rankings, now up to 12th in points per game (1.30) and he is tied for 10th in assists per game (0.91). Wagner is one of 13 players nationally with at least 30 points.

*Meanwhile, in the ECAC, Smith and Wagner are running away atop the conference. Smith’s 15 goals, 20 points and 1.67 points per game all top the league. He also leads the loop in short-handed goals and short-handed points. Wagner sits behind Smith in second place with 18 points and 1.50 points per game. Wagner’s 11 helpers are tied for second in the league.

*Special teams have struggled in Colgate’s recent skid. The Raiders are 1-for-15 (6.7%) on the power play over the last three games and 2-for-20 (10.0%) in the last four. The PP went a combined 0-for-8 last weekend. Meanwhile, the penalty kill put together a 4-for-4 effort versus Dartmouth on Saturday though it is 16-for-22 (72.7%) over the last six games. If you go back to the SLU game on Dec. 3, the Raiders are just 24-for-36 (66.7%) on the kill.

*Colgate has scored 22 goals in the first or last two minutes of a period this season. The number is slightly higher if you include the first three or four minutes after last Saturday’s goal-scoring surge late in the second period. Meanwhile, the Maroon and White has given up 16 goals in the first/last 2.5 minutes of a frame.

*Barring a scratch, Jeremy Price will play his 100th career game for Colgate this weekend.

*Colgate’s best period remains the first. The Raiders overall are outscoring opponents 23-16 and in ECAC games 13-6.

#BeatCornell
#ChewBigRed
#BetterDeadThanRed
#AustinSmithForHobey

Game Recap: Colgate vs. Dartmouth (Jan. 21)

2012-01-24T23:39:00.000-08:00

Game 25: Colgate vs. Dartmouth
Date: Sat., Jan. 21, 2012
Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.
Score: Dartmouth 5 Colgate 4 (OT)
Records: Colgate 12-9-3 (6-5-1 ECAC), Dartmouth 8-8-2 (5-5-1 ECAC)

Colgate Game Story
Dartmouth Game Story
Box Score

Quick Analysis
College hockey is a 60-minute game and sometimes it is even more than that. Saturday night, the Raiders came up 20 minutes short of a three-point weekend. However it should be noted that the sky isn't falling, the program isn't in a downward spiral and there is still lots of hockey left to be played in 2011-2012. Was this a bad loss? Yeah, but what's done is done and now the team will move forward to Cornell.

The Good
*Colgate still continues to control its own destiny in regards to a top-four finish in the ECAC standings. With 10 games remaining, Colgate is tied for fourth place with Clarkson and still one point behind third-place Quinnipiac. The Raiders have two games at hand on the Bobcats and a head-to-head meeting left with Clarkson on Feb. 18 at Cheel Arena. For the moment, Colgate holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with Clarkson based on a 4-2 win on Dec. 3 at Starr Rink. If the team can pull things together over the final five weeks of the season, a top four finish and a first-round bye into home ice advantage in the quarterfinals can still very much be had.

*Four different goals from four different players. The Raiders had not scored three or more times since the opening game of the Ferris State series, a 4-3 loss in Big Rapids. Finally on Saturday night, Colgate’s offense erupted into a goal-scoring orgy of three strikes within a two-minute span late in the second period. Add on Kurtis Bartliff’s short-handed goal in the opening minutes of the first period and the Raiders came up with four games. A loss is a loss but it was nice to see the offense finally break through and put goals on the board – and not just the Wilson-Smith-Wagner line.

*A strong second period. The second periods during the Princeton-Quinnipiac road weekend were dismal with Colgate allowing eight goals in what amounted to two losses. That said, Friday and Saturday night’s middle frames were very strong. The ‘Gate outshot Harvard 12-6 on Friday night and then followed up with a tremendous second period on Saturday against Dartmouth. The strong, hard-work period was capped off by a three-goal surge in the final 2.5 minutes of the frame with goals coming from Joe Wilson, Matt Firman and Austin Smith.

*Penalty killing. Colgate’s penalty killers turned in a perfect 4-for-4 effort against the Dartmouth power play. That included scoring one short-handed goal, the eighth of the season for CU. Given how much the penalty kill has struggled over the last month, shutting out Dartmouth from a power play goal is a big step forward. The Raiders still need to be careful with their short-handed rushes in not getting both forwards caught up the ice and having that turn into an odd-man rush to the other end.

*Being physical, at least through two periods. The Raiders took the body and played at times a crash and bang style game. No more evident was this than on Colgate’s fourth goal. Chris Wagner’s body-check in the slot on Dartmouth’s Eric Neily kept the puck in the offensive zone and allowed Corbin McPherson to set up Austin Smith with a diagonal pass that Smith rifled past James Mello to give CU a 4-1 lead. The team seemed to be aggressive physically and everyone was throwing the body, even players that don’t normally get into the body-checking game.

*Regardless of the result and what you may think of his performance in goal, Alex Evin finally returned to the line-up for the first time since Dec. 3 when he backstopped the Raiders to a lop-sided win over Saint Lawrence at Starr Rink. The Raiders now have two healthy goaltenders for the final five weekends of the season as opposed to just one.

The Bad
*The third period saw the game take a dramatic 180-degree turn as a 4-1 Colgate advantage melted away into a 4-4 deadlock with about four and a half minutes left to play in regulation. For those that remember, this was nearly a replay of what’s referred to as “the Yale game” three years ago when the Bulldogs came back from a 4-0 deficit in the third period to win 5-4 in overtime.

*Seriously though, what in the world happened in the third period? Dartmouth wanted it more and the Raiders seemed to take their foot off of the accelerator. The Big Green hustled to pucks, made smart decisions in the offensive zone, won face-offs, played strong in the defensive end with Connor Goggin and Mike Keenan and cashed in on scoring chances. Dartmouth also smothered Colgate defensively and blocked a good number of shots, not allowing the Raiders to get the puck on James Mello who had struggled in the second. And, the Raiders had no answer for Eric Robinson, Doug Jones and Matt Lindblad who all came alive in the third.

*Overtime. Colgate’s OT record entering the weekend, 2-0-2, with wins over Miami (Ohio) and Niagara. The Raiders played overtime on both Friday and Saturday night and neither overtime session was a solid period. In two overtime games, Colgate took a combined total of zero shots on goal. Friday, CU dominated the third and then appeared somewhat sluggish in OT, allowing Harvard to come away with a point. On Saturday, Dartmouth had the momentum carrying over from the third period and the Raiders seemed sloppy and couldn’t really generate a great offensive chance, even with the puck in the attacking zone.

*Power play. The weekend began with Colgate’s high-flying power play unit around 20.0% for the season coming in against two of the worst (statistically speaking) penalty killing teams in the nation in Dartmouth and Harvard; the result? Zero power play goals and an 0-for-8 performance overall on the power play. Saturday, Colgate went 0-for-5 on the man advantage with two of the five power plays washed away due to penalties (one for a slash, one for interference). The Raiders have struggled mightily on the power play as of late with just one power play goal in their last 15 chances. In its last four ECAC league games, Colgate is 2-for-20 (10.0%) on the power play.

*Untimely penalties. Colgate took just four penalties in the game and ended up allowing only six opponent power plays on the weekend. That said, the timeliness of the penalties really hurt the Raiders. Two penalties came in the opening three minutes of a period (one in the first 30 seconds) and the two others came during a power play which then nullified a man-up chance.

*Let downs around the intermission break. Colgate led for most of the first period, 1-0, behind Kurtis Bartliff’s short-handed goal. That lead vanished with less than a minute to go in the period when Mark Goggin potted the equalizer for the Big Green. Dartmouth’s comeback rally began in the first 95 seconds of the third period with two fluky but quick goals that stunned the Raiders and turned a 4-1 game into a 4-3 game before the dust had settled on the second intermission. Bottom line, Colgate has to be stronger in this situation - just like when the Raiders were strong at the tail end of the second period.

*Face-offs for the second night in a row were nearly 2-to-1 in favor of the opposition. Dartmouth’s Tyler Sikura, a freshman, seemingly won every draw he took and Raider centermen had a hard time sweeping the puck back towards their defensemen. We said this after the Harvard game on Friday night, Colgate simply has to be better at draws. A face-off win leads to puck possession and to potentially a shot on goal. Not winning the face-off leads to a break-out, a clear or an offensive chance for the opposition.

*Over-passing and not being able to get the puck on goal. Now, as mentioned above, Dartmouth blocked its fair share of shots in the third period. That said, Colgate has fallen back into last year’s habit of looking for the perfect shot and some players want to continue to try and set the table rather than shooting the puck. Both nights on the weekend, Colgate had an odd-man rush in the third period with a chance to win the game and in each situation, no actual shot was taken. Someone ended up over-skating a pass or it was broken up. Other times, the Raiders seem too quick to the shoot the puck from the outer perimeter and it ends up going right into shin pads and skates. There’s a good balance of shooting the puck on goal and taking smart shots, the Raiders can’t seem to figure that out right now despite Friday night’s 36 shots versus Harvard.

The Turning Point
Saturday’s turning point actually comes from a combination of two factors; one was Chris Wagner’s violent open-ice body check on Dartmouth’s Eric Neily that led directly to Colgate’s fourth goal with 22 seconds left in the second period. The frame ended soon enough and then the Big Green came out firing on all cylinders in the third period. Another factor, two super quick goals in the first 95 seconds of the third period that turned the game from a three-goal laugher into a one-goal nail-biter.

This and That…
*Eleven different players scored goals in the game. No one for either Dartmouth or Colgate had a multi-goal night. Dartmouth’s Eric Robinson led the way offensively for both sides with a goal and two assists. Colgate’s Chris Wagner did have multiple assists, he pocketed two on the night to increase his season total to 21.

*The Raiders now have two 30-point scorers on the season in Austin Smith and Chris Wagner. Smith’s two-point night pushed his team-leading total to 38 points on 24 goals and 14 assists. Smith is now three points shy of his career high (41). Wagner’s aforementioned two assists increased his career-high point total to 30 (9-21-30).

*Austin Smith’s two points pushed his career total to 141 points on 67 goals and 74 assists. He is now tied for 22nd place on Colgate’s all-time scoring list with Ron Fogarty. Smith needs one point to pass Fogarty and eight points to move into 21st place in front of Shawn Lillie. If and when Smith passes Lillie, he will become the highest American-born point producer in Colgate hockey history.

*Saturday night’s game produced the best attendance of the season at Starr Rink with over 1,500 in attendance. Much like games past, the crowd wasn’t much to speak of when the puck dropped however as the game went along, the old barn filled up nicely. Hopefully all 2,200+ fans will be in their seats when the puck drops at Starr Rink next Saturday with Cornell in town.

*Twice this season, Colgate has scored lightning-fast goals in less than a one-minute span against Dartmouth. CU used two goals 39-seconds apart in the first meeting of the year at Thompson Arena as part of a three-goal third period in a 4-0 victory. Saturday, Colgate’s Matt Firman and Joe Wilson lit the lamp 18 seconds apart to boost the Raiders up to a 3-1 edge, breaking a 1-1 deadlock.

*Saturday night’s loss was Colgate’s first at home in an ECAC game since Feb. 4, 2011 against St. Lawrence. It was also Colgate’s first home overtime defeat dating back to a 2-1 losing decision versus RPI on Jan. 15, 2011.

*Despite Saturday’s defeat, the Raiders are 5-1-5 in their last 11 overtime games.

*This weekend marked the first time since October than CU has played back-to-back overtime games. The Raiders played three-straight OT tilts between Oct. 15 and Oct. 28 and went 2-0-1 in those games with wins over Niagara and Miami (Ohio) and a tie versus Army.

*The Raiders finished the regular season series with eight goals against Dartmouth in two games.

*Matt Firman and Joe Wilson scored in the same game for the second time this season. Firman and Wilson each lit the lamp in a 4-1 victory at Vermont on Nov. 25. Firman scored twice in the game and Wilson notched the eventual game-winner. Saturday, the pair struck 18 seconds apart to give Colgate a 3-1 lead.

*Alex Evin suffered his first loss in goal since a 2-1 defeat to Niagara on Oct. 29.

*Dartmouth’s five goals are the most allowed by the Raiders at Starr Rink since a 6-4 setback to Yale on Nov. 20, 2010.

2011-2012 Season, Game 25: Colgate vs. Dartmouth

2012-01-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

Game 25: Colgate (12-8-2, 6-4-0 ECAC) vs. Dartmouth (7-7-2, 4-4-1 ECAC)
Date: Sat., Jan. 21, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.
Radio: 93.9 FM WKXZ Norwich
Internet Broadcast: WKXZfm.com (http://www.wkxzfm.com), TEAMLINE (http://www.teamline.cc)
Internet Video: http://www.gocolgateraiders.com/showcase
Live Stats: http://www.gocolgateraiders.com

Opponent: Dartmouth College
Nickname: Big Green
Location: Hanover, N.H.
Conference: ECAC Hockey
2011-2012 Record: 7-8-2 (4-5-1 ECAC Hockey)
2011-2012 Non-Conference Record: 3-3-1
Wins: Brown, Quinnipiac, St. Lawrence, Sacred Heart, Holy Cross, Rensselaer
Losses: Yale, Colgate, Cornell x2, Clarkson, Vermont, Union, New Hampshire
Ties: Harvard, St. Lawrence
Current League Standing: Tied for 10th place with St. Lawrence
Preseason Ranking: Fourth (Media), Fifth (Coaches)
2009-2010 Record: 19-12-3 (12-8-2 ECAC)
Head Coach: Bob Gaudet (Dartmouth 1981), 24th season overall, 15th season at Dartmouth
Overall Record: 306-346-83 overall, 213-204-52 at Dartmouth

Last Time Out…
Colgate 4 Dartmouth 0
Date: Nov. 11, 2011
Site: Thompson Arena; Hanover, N.H.
*Four different Raiders scored goals and Eric Mihalik earned his first career shutout as Colgate blanked Dartmouth at Thompson Arena for the second time in the last three years. Colgate shut out Dartmouth, 1-0, on Feb. 14, 2009 behind a shutout from Charles Long.

*Mike McCann notched the eventual game-winning goal in the second period but the Raiders put the game away in the final 20 minutes with three third-period goals, two of which came 39-seconds apart around five minutes into the stanza. Chris Wagner, Matt Firman and Nick Prockow all scored for the Raiders, Austin Mayer handed out two assists and Austin Smith pocketed one helper.

*The game was the exact opposite of what followed at Harvard the next night, just eight penalties were called and six power plays resulted. Colgate went 1-for-4 on the power play while Dartmouth was held 0-for-2. The Raiders were not whistled for a penalty in either the first or third periods.

*Shots ended up even at 30-30. Eric Mihalik pitched a 30-save shutout. Colgate outshot Dartmouth 21-15 over the first two periods though Dartmouth threw 15 shots on the Colgate cage during the third frame.

*In the end, 10 Raiders recorded at least one point and that included Daniel Gentzler who earned his first collegiate point.

*Read our game recap HERE

All-Time Series: 43-41-5 Dartmouth (89 games)
First Meeting: Feb. 5, 1929 (Dartmouth 9-1; Hanover, N.H.)
Last Meeting: Nov. 11, 2011 (Colgate 4-0; Thompson Arena, Hanover, N.H.)
Last Colgate Win: Nov. 11, 2011 (Colgate 4-0; Thompson Arena; Hanover, N.H.)
Last Dartmouth Win: Mar. 19, 2011 (Dartmouth 5-3; Boardwalk Hall; Atlantic City, N.J.)
Home: 20-12-2 Colgate
Road: 21-19-3 Dartmouth
Neutral: 10-2-0 Dartmouth

*Saturday’s game will mark the 90th all-time meeting between Colgate and Dartmouth. The Big Green and the Raiders first met in 1929 and have been playing regularly since the mid-1970s. Colgate and Dartmouth met four times last season which marked a season-high total of games for the series. Colgate and Dartmouth played two regular season games and then met at Dartmouth’s Ledyard Bank tournament and then again in the consolation round of the ECAC championships.

*No other Colgate series that has been played more than 50 times has a closer margin. The Raiders and the Big Green are separated by two wins in the all-time series with Dartmouth holding a slim two-game lead. Colgate trails Quinnipiac by one game in their all-time series however the Raiders and Bobcats have played fewer than 25 times.

*Dartmouth is winless in its’ last two trips to Starr Rink. The nationally-ranked Big Green was knocked off by Colgate, 5-3, late last season and then the Raiders clipped the Big Green, 3-2, on Silver Puck Weekend 2009 which was also the first weekend of ECAC hockey play. The last time the Hanover, N.H., side won in Hamilton was in 2008 when Dartmouth earned a 1-0 shutout victory over Colgate.

*While the Big Green defeated Colgate in three of four games last season, the recent series has been fairly nip-and-tuck. The last 10 games have seen Dartmouth hold a slight edge with a 5-4-1 record.

*The winning team in the last seven games between Colgate and Dartmouth has scored at least three goals. In contrast to that, Colgate and Dartmouth played to a pair of 1-0 games in 2008-09 which each team earning a shutout on the others’ home ice.

*In the ECAC playoffs all-time, Dartmouth is 6-3-0 against Colgate. The Raiders have not beaten the Green in the playoffs since 2004 ECAC consolation game at the Times Union Center in Albany.

Current Leading Scorers – Dartmouth
Tyler Sikura (Fr. F) 7-5-12
Matt Lindblad (So. F) 2-10-12
Eric Robinson (So. F) 7-4-11
Doug Jones (Sr. F) 5-6-11
Dustin Walsh (Jr. F) 3-7-10
Jesse Beamish (Fr. F) 4-3-7
*James Mello (Sr. G) 3-5-1, 3.10 GAA, .895 SV %
*Cab Morris (So. G) 3-2-1, 3.10 GAA, .890 SV %

Loose Pucks - Dartmouth
*The Big Green dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 overtime decision to Cornell on Friday night at Lynah Rink. Dartmouth outshot Cornell 28-21 and scored twice on the power play however a penalty in overtime led to Cornell’s game-winning power play goal. The game was broadcast around upstate New York on Time Warner Cable Sports.

*If you thought Harvard had special teams woes, well, the Crimson have nothing on the Big Green. Dartmouth’s power play, despite going 2-for-4 on Friday, is tied for 51st nationally of 58 teams. The Big Green are 7-for-56 (12.5%) over 17 games. No other ECAC Hockey team has a lower overall power play percentage. Statistically, Dartmouth’s penalty kill is worse. Dartmouth ranks 56th nationally with a conversion rate of 71.1% (54-for-76) however the Green does have two short-handed goals. Not including short-handed goals, that is margin between power play and short-handed goals of -15. Shockingly, Dartmouth’s combined special teams ranks just two spots behind Colgate nationally.

*Although Dartmouth stands currently in a 10th-place tie with Saint Lawrence, the Big Green is only four points back of fourth-place Colgate and five back of third-place Quinnipiac. Dartmouth also has 12 league games remaining, the most of any ECAC Hockey team.

*Dartmouth has been a team of streaks over the last two months. In December and into early January, the Green went 3-0-1 with wins over Sacred Heart, Holy Cross and RPI; the lone tie came against St. Lawrence in the finals of the Ledyard Bank Classic. However, since a 4-3 win over Rensselaer at Houston Field House (game shown on NBC Sports Network), Dartmouth has dropped three-straight games – losses have been to Union, New Hampshire and Cornell.

*Dustin Walsh and Matthew Lindblad are Dartmouth’s two top threats scoring-wise against Colgate. Lindblad potted nine points (2-7-9) in four games versus the Raiders last season. Dustin Walsh has racked up seven points opposite the ‘Gate on four goals and three assists. No other Dartmouth skater has more than three points against CU.

*James Mello was one of the best goaltenders in ECAC Hockey last season. This year, well, that has not been the case. Entering into Saturday’s game, Mello is 3-5-1 with a 3.10 goals against average and an .895 save percentage. He has split time recently with Cab Morris. Last year, Mello was 17-9-3 with a 2.21 GAA. He played in all but four games.

*Scoring defense in ECAC Hockey games has been an issue for Dartmouth. In 10 league games played, the Big Green has yielded 36 goals. Our math tells us that that is 3.60 goals per game allowed. The Hanover, N.H., squad has scored 26 goals in 10 league games which equals out to 2.60 goals per game. Rookie Tyler Sikura is Dartmouth’s leading scorer in the league with seven points.

*Though a penalty in overtime on Friday night led directly to Cornell’s game-winning goal, Dartmouth is one of the least-penalized teams in the country. Dartmouth is averaging 11.5 penalty minutes per game and that ranks 52nd nationally. Surprisingly, several other ECAC teams are ranked ahead of Dartmouth (meaning fewer PIMs per game) – Cornell, Union and Princeton.

*Overall 22 Dartmouth players have recorded at least one point and 14 skaters have scored one goal. Eleven of the 14 goal scorers have found the net multiple times. However, Dartmouth has just five players with double-digit points and none of them have more than 12 points. Tyler Sikura and Eric Robinson each have seven goals and Matthew Lindblad leads the Green with 10 assists. Lindblad’s struggles have come in the form of a low goal-scoring number. Last season, Linblad was among Dartmouth’s leaders with 13 scores.

*Quick Numbers…Road: 2-4-0…One-Goal Games: 4-3-0…Score First: 4-2-0…Opponent Scores First: 3-6-1…Leading After 1: 4-0-0…Leading After 2: 6-0-0…Trailing After 1: 1-3-0…Trailing After 2: 1-6-1.

*Dartmouth has not outscored its opponent in any period this season. No period has been particularly poor though Dartmouth has allowed 21 second-period goals. That has also Dartmouth’s best period in terms of scoring with 17 markers.

Loose Pucks – Colgate
*The Raiders head into Saturday’s contest with Dartmouth in sole possession of fourth place in ECAC Hockey, one point behind third-place Quinnipiac and one point ahead of fifth-place Princeton. Given that Colgate is 6-2-2 at home this year and 4-0-1 in ECAC home games, finishing in the top four to earn home-ice advantage in the quarterfinal round is paramount. A finish in the 5-through-8 range would put Colgate at home in the first round and then on the road for the quarterfinals.

*Colgate set what is believed to be a modern-day school record by allowing just one shot in the third period in Friday night’s 2-2 overtime tie with Harvard. The Raiders outshot the Cantabs 16-1 in the final 20 minutes of regulation. Earlier this season, Colgate held Miami (Ohio) to three shots in the first period of what ended up as a 3-2 overtime victory for the Raiders. The NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey record book does not have a record for fewest shots allowed in a single period.

*Austin Smith continues to lead the nation in goal scoring and goals per game. Smith has 23 goals this season in 23 games for an average of 1.00 goals per game. The senior from Dallas, Texas, is just one of two players nationally with at least 20 goals – Minnesota’s Nick Bjudstad is the other. Smith’s 36 points overall are second in the nation; Minnesota-Duluth’s Jack Connelly is in first place with 37 points though Connelly has just 12 goals; most of his points (24) have come on assists.

*In 11 league games, Smith has notched 14 goals, well more than anyone else in ECAC Hockey. Chris Wagner has seven league goals. Smith and Wagner are first and second in terms of ECAC points per game. The pair has combined for 21 goals, 13 assists and 34 points against league opponents.

*Friday night’s game was Colgate’s third tie of the season. Colgate recorded just three ties all of last season. For the CU upperclassmen, this is a low number. As freshmen and sophomores, Colgate’s current senior class combined to earn 13 ties.

*Colgate has not lost an overtime game in over one calendar year. Colgate’s last overtime loss came at Starr Rink on Jan. 15, 2011 when RPI defeated Colgate 2-1 on a Chase Polacek penalty shot goal in overtime. Since then, the Raiders are undefeated in the extra session. Since then, Colgate has played 10 overtime games and registered a record of 5-0-5 and that includes two overtime wins in the ECAC playoffs over Rensselaer and Union.

*In ECAC games at Starr Rink this season, Colgate has yet to allow more than two goals in a single game. The last team at Starr Rink to score more than two goals was Miami (Ohio) on Oct. 14.

*The Raiders overall have played 23 games this season plus one exhibition. Not including the exhibition game at the start of the season against Carleton, Colgate has played just nine games decided by one goal or less. In one-goal games, Colgate is 3-3-0; the Raiders also have three ties – all three of which have been low-scoring (2-2, 1-1, 2-2).

*Colgate has yet to win a game this season when scoring two goals or less.

Game Recap: Colgate vs. Harvard (Jan. 20)

2012-01-20T22:29:00.000-08:00

Game 24: Colgate vs. Harvard
Date: Fri., Jan. 20, 2012
Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.
Score: Colgate 2 Harvard 2 (OT)
Records: Colgate 12-8-3 (6-4-1 ECAC), Harvard 4-6-7 (3-4-5 ECAC)

Colgate Game Story
Harvard Game Story
Box Score

Quick Analysis
Friday night ended up in a well-earned point for the Raiders and while a point does not equal a win, a point is still a point no matter how pretty or how ugly.

The Good
*Well, the unsightly losing streak is now history and although Friday did not end up in a win, a point is a point in the standings and the Raiders now sit all alone in fourth place, one point ahead of idle Princeton. The Raiders still have games at hand (three) on both third-place Quinnipiac and fifth-place Princeton.

*That was quite a third period. Colgate completely carried the play in the final period of regulation on Friday night. The Raiders outshot the Crimson by a staggering 16-1 margin and basically cut off the ice at the red line. Harvard had little to no sustained offensive pressure and Colgate kept firing away at the Harvard goal, putting pucks on the net and keeping the play in the offensive zone. Eventually the pressure put on by Colgate paid off into a dirty goal by Austin Smith who knocked in his own rebound, sliding it just past a sprawling Steve Michalik in the Harvard crease. In the end, this was simply an outstanding period of hockey for the Raiders, their best of the calendar year.

*Both Colgate goals on Friday night came in the high-traffic zone. The Raiders have been guilty of being too fancy sometimes and looking for more highlight-reel goals from the slot and up top as opposed to getting the puck in front of the net and stuffing it in past an opposing goaltender. Friday, both Chris Wagner and Austin Smith scored from in close. Wagner’s goal came in the tight space in front of the net as he staked out in front of the blue paint and one-timed home a pass from Joe Wilson.

*For just the second time this season, the Raiders earned a non-negative (non-loss) result when trailing after two periods. Colgate went to the locker room at the second intermission down by a goal for the first time at home in an ECAC game this season. As mentioned above, the Raiders came out like gangbusters in the third period and threw nearly everything and the kitchen sink at Steve Michalek. The Raiders came back to certainly earn the point the hard way on Friday night.

*This is kind of becoming a broken record but it was another solid night all around for the trio of Joe Wilson, Chris Wagner and Austin Smith. The trio generated Colgate’s best chances and also played a strong two-way game. Wagner threw the body around when he had to and Joe Wilson had one of his better offensive games. And well Austin Smith was Austin Smith. It has become fun to watch these three on the ice and wonder what they’re going to do next.

*One of the keys to the game for Colgate was staying out of the penalty box because of Harvard’s strong power play. And Colgate did just that. The Raiders took only three penalties and just two led to the power plays. Two of the three penalties probably could have been avoided (a cross-check from behind and scrumming after a whistle) but still in general Colgate stayed out of the box, a sharp contrast to the last time that the two teams met (21-combined penalties).

*Defensively Colgate was solid. After allowing 13 goals last weekend and at least three in three of their last four games, the Raiders held the fort against an offensively-savvy Harvard team. The biggest point in Colgate’s defensive effort was shot-blocking. Official numbers for the game were not available but Colgate blocked its’ fair share of shots with sticks and shin pads. Colgate was most successful in not allowing screen shots from out top by Patrick McNally and Danny Biega to get through on Eric Mihalik. Those shots were blocked and screeners never were able to re-direct pucks.

The Bad
*A tough special teams night for the Raiders. Colgate, against a statistically poor penalty-killing Harvard team, went 0-for-3 on the power play. The Crimson, like the Quinnipiac Bobcats last Saturday, hounded the puck carrier and pressured the puck at the blue line right when Colgate entered the zone. Neither of Colgate’s two power play units seemed to have an answer for Harvard’s hyper-active penalty kill. Meanwhile, the Raiders on the penalty kill continued their struggles as of late. Harvard, the nation’s top power play, scored less than 30 seconds into its’ first chance and wound up going 1-for-2.

*Face-offs ended up being vastly in favor of Harvard. Most of the crucial draws at both ends of the ice were won by Harvard pivotmen. The Crimson weren’t doing anything fancy in the face-off circle aside from winning draws. Part of Colgate’s offensive zone play is predicated on winning the face-off and getting the puck back to Austin Smith (stacked behind Chris Wagner) or to the blue line. That did not happen as much as it should on Friday.

*The Raiders ended up with two goals and 36 shots on net however the Raiders still seem to be forcing the play offensively in terms of trying to do too much. Harvard flummoxed Colgate through the night with a neutral-zone trap. Countless times certain Raiders skated right into the teeth of the trap and gave the puck away. Other times, Colgate would manage to get through the trap and then give the puck away just across the blue line. Other times, Colgate became too predictable offensively in that the forwards would get the puck down low and look to center out into the slot. And each time basically this happened, a Harvard stick ended up in the passing lane for a deflection and clear. Essentially, CU just needs to be get to basics offensively and also some of the forwards need to show some creativity and not rely on the same offensive zone plays each time down the ice.

*The lack of offense, in terms of actual goals, continues from players not named Austin Smith, Chris Wagner and Joe Wilson. Now, a few others did have solid offensive chances and the Raiders clanged three pucks off of a post (Goulakos, Firman, Wilson) however the secondary scoring that was present earlier in the season has completely dropped off the table. One wonders what has to happen for others to start lighting the lamp?

*After controlling most of the third period and outshooting the Crimson 16-1, Colgate could not seem to generate much of anything in overtime. The Crimson appeared to be a step quicker and seemed to want it a little bit more. One would think that with a third period goal and a wave of momentum from the third period, Colgate would be the favorite in overtime though it was Harvard in the extra session that carried the play. This is not a big negative because the game did end up in a tie though the Raiders could have had a better OT effort.

*Not enough wins against Harvard along the wall. It seemed at times that the Raiders just weren’t winning enough board battles and this could probably go in with face-offs and just 50-50 pucks which Colgate could not seem to get a handle on. Harvard was physical along the wall and the Crimson were able many a time to dig pucks free from a scrum. A win in a board battle along the left-wing wall in the Colgate zone led directly to Harvard’s second goal as the Crimson came off the wall with the puck and a mini 2-on-1 developed that led to a one-time goal for Peter Starrett.

The Turning Point
*It’s hard to pick out one spot where the game changed its’ course. Colgate’s third period was excellent and the Raiders turned up the pressure that much more after Austin Smith tied the game at two with about seven and a half minutes to play.

This and That…
*Harvard broke a school single-season record with its seventh tie. The Crimson have recorded seven draws in seventeen overall games and five ties in 12 ECAC tilts.

*Colgate played its first overtime game since a 1-1 overtime draw with Merrimack on Dec. 11 at Starr Rink. The Raiders remained unbeaten in overtime games this season and now have a 2-0-3 mark in the extra session. Colgate’s last two overtime games have ended in draws. The contest was CU’s first overtime ECAC game since a late-season tie at Yale last year.

*Fifth-year senior Kevin McNamara was scratched for just the third time in his Colgate career. McNamara was scratched for the first time since Nov. 5, 2010 when he sat out a road game at Saint Lawrence. The Chestnut Hill, Mass. native remains stuck on 140 career games.

*Kevin’s younger brother, Jack, missed most of the game. Jack McNamara, a sophomore, took a hard but legal hit just inside the Harvard blue line from Crimson defenseman Danny Fick in the first period. McNamara skated off under his own power but did not return to the game after that. Jack’s linemates, Mark Nasca and Daniel Gentzler, played the rest of the game with a mixture of different line mates.

*With a tie is not a win, it’s not a loss either. Colgate continued two separate home unbeaten streaks. The Raiders are 7-0-1 in their last eight ECAC games at Starr Rink and 5-0-2 over the last seven games at Starr Rink overall.

*Chris Wagner stretched his team-leading point streak to four-straight games. The sophomore tied a career-high with his ninth goal. He has 28 points overall (9-19-28) for the season and 16 points in ECAC Hockey games.

*Referee Tim Kotyra worked the game without a name plate on the back of his shirt.

*Another late-arriving but good crowd including the Colgate pep band took in the game on Friday night. The final attendance ended up at 1,426. Second semester classes begin at Colgate this coming week.

*Former Silver Puck Award winner Bruce Crowley was at the game as well as Silver Puck President Jerry Quill.

*There was one goal review in the game and it came in the third period with less than two minutes to play. A quick one-time chance for Austin Smith was apparently swatted away by Harvard’s Steve Michalek. The puck did not appear to go over the goal line however the goal light went on, the fans cheered and the goal music was played. That said, the play on the ice continued as if nothing happened. The play was blown dead and the call on the ice was no goal; after a brief review with Peter Feola going into the penalty box area to look at the replay, it was decided there was no goal on the play.

*Colgate’s forward lines saw changes for the first time this season when the team has been healthy. John Lidgett moved from center the wing and joined a line with Matt Firman and Austin Mayer. The slot vacated by Lidgett was filled by Kurtis Bartliff who went from wing to center; Bartliff was teamed up with Nick Prockow and Robbie Bourdon.

*Harvard played the third period without forward Alex Fallstrom. The junior from Stockholm played the first two periods and then in the third period, Fallstrom’s spot on Harvard’s top line with Alex Killorn and Marshall Everson was taken up by Colin Blackwell.

2011-2012 Season, Game 24: Colgate vs. Harvard

2012-01-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Game 24: Colgate (12-8-2, 6-4-0 ECAC) vs. Harvard (4-6-6, 3-4-4 ECAC)

Date: Fri., Jan. 20, 2012

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.

Radio: 93.9 FM WKXZ Norwich

Internet Broadcast: WKXZfm.com (http://www.wkxzfm.com), TEAMLINE (http://www.teamline.cc)

Internet Video: http://www.gocolgateraiders.com/showcase

Live Stats: http://www.gocolgateraiders.com

Opponent: Harvard University

Nickname: Crimson

Location: Cambridge, Mass.

Conference: ECAC Hockey

2011-2012 Record: 4-6-6 (3-4-4 ECAC)

2011-2012 Non-Conference Record: 1-2-2

Wins: Colgate, Clarkson, New Hampshire, Princeton

Losses: Princeton, Cornell, St. Lawrence, North Dakota, Union, Boston University

Ties: Quinnipiac, Dartmouth, UMass, North Dakota, Union, RPI

Current League Standing: Tied for eighth with Brown

Preseason Ranking: Seventh (Coaches), 12th (Media)

2009-2010 Record: 12-21-1 (7-14-1 ECAC)

Head Coach: Ted Donato (Harvard 1991), Eighth season

Overall Record:107-116-27 through eight seasons

Last Time Out…

Harvard 4 Colgate 2

Date: Nov. 12, 2011

Site: Bright Hockey Center; Cambridge, Mass.

*Harvard scored three times in the second period to erase Colgate leads of 1-0 and 2-1 en route to a wild 4-2 victory over the nationally-ranked Raiders. The win was Harvard’s first of the season.

*The game featured three five-minute major power plays, one game disqualification and one game misconduct penalty. All of which came in the second period. Harvard’s Danny Biega earned a game misconduct after being tagged with a five-minute major for hitting from behind. Colgate’s Jeremy Price was given a five-minute major for boarding around six minutes of game play later however he was not thrown out of the game. Before Price’s penalty ended, Colgate’s Nick Prockow took a five-minute major for face-masking and he received a game disqualification.

*In total, 67 minutes of penalties were handed out in the contest that featured 21 infractions. Fifteen penalties alone were called in the second period which at one point saw four Colgate players in the penalty box after a scrum at 14:48.

*Staying with the second period, there were less than four minutes of actual 5-on-5 play because of all of the penalties.

*Harvard went 2-for-8 on the power play with both goals coming in the final five minutes of the period during a major power play which resulted from Nick Prockow’s five-minute major for face-masking.

*Shots ended fairly even with a 33-32 advantage for the Crimson. Harvard’s Steve Michalek made 30 saves while Colgate’s Eric Mihalik came up with 29 stops.

*Austin Smith and Robbie Bourdon scored goals for Colgate while Harvard had four different skaters light the lamp. Patrick McNally and Alex Killorn each had a goal and an assist while Dan Ford and David Valek both had two helpers.

*Read our game recap HERE

All-Time Series: 46-21-6 Harvard (73 games)

First Meeting: Jan. 16, 1971 (Harvard 4-1; Starr Rink, Hamilton, N.Y.)

Last Meeting: Nov. 12, 2011 (Harvard 4-2; Bright Hockey Center, Cambridge, Mass.)

Last Colgate Win: Feb. 19, 2011 (Colgate 2-1; Starr Rink, Hamilton, N.Y.)

Last Harvard Win: Nov. 12, 2011 (Harvard 4-2; Bright Hockey Center; Cambridge, Mass.)

Home: 18-10-4 Harvard

Road: 26-11-2 Harvard

Neutral: 2-0-0 Harvard

Series Notes

*While Harvard leads the all-time series against Colgate at Starr Rink, the Cantabs have not won in Hamilton since Nov. 11, 2006. Colgate is 2-0-2 versus Harvard over the last four meetings between the teams in upstate New York.

*With a victory, Harvard can earn a series sweep for the first time in five years. Harvard has not swept Colgate, or won back-to-back games against the Raiders for that matter, since the 2006-2007 campaign.

*Eight of the last nine overall games between Colgate and Harvard have been decided by two goals or less. Four games in a row at Starr Rink pitting the Cantabs against the Hamiltonians have been decided by one goal or less. Colgate has won two one-goal games in a row over Harvard in Hamilton (5-4, 2-1).

*The recent portion of the series has been a stand-off. In the last nine games between Harvard and Colgate, the Raiders lead the series 4-3-2.

*In ECAC Hockey playoff action, Harvard is 8-0-0 all-time against Colgate. The teams last met in the postseason in the 2005 ECAC semifinals at the Times Union Center. The Crimson edged the Raiders 5-4 in double overtime.

Current Leading Scorers – Harvard

Alex Killorn (Sr. F) 10-10-20

Danny Biega (Jr. D) 4-15-19

Patrick McNally (Fr. D) 4-11-15

Alex Fallstrom (Jr. F) 7-6-13

Marshall Everson (Jr. F) 5-7-12

Dan Ford (So. D) 1-9-10

*Steve Michalek (Fr. G) 4-5-5, 3.28 GAA, .891 SV %

Loose Pucks – Harvard

*The Crimson arrive in upstate New York on a six-game winless streak. Harvard is 0-3-3 in its’ last six games and most recently, Harvard was swept last weekend by Union and Boston University.

*One week ago, Harvard hosted Union at Fenway Park as part of Frozen Fenway and dropped a 2-0 decision. Union potted the eventual game-winning goal with less than five seconds left in the second period. The following night, Boston University scored twice in the third period to erase a 3-1 Harvard lead and then the Terriers tallied in overtime to upend their Beantown counterparts.

*Statistically speaking, the Cantabs have the best power play in the nation. Harvard has scored 24 power play goals on 70 chances which equal a power play conversion rate of 34.3%. That’s 24 power play goals for Harvard in just 16 games. Senior Alex Killorn leads the Crimson with seven power play goals. No other Division I men’s team in the nation has a power play above 30.0%.The Crimson have also recorded multiple power play goals in a single game eight times.

*However, Harvard’s penalty kill is one of the worst in the nation. The Cantabs are 45-for-62 on the penalty kill or 72.6%. In ECAC Hockey games, that number drops to 67.5% (27-for-40). In the national rankings, Harvard’s penalty kill ranks 55th of 58 teams. The Cambridge side also has not scored a short-handed goal.

*Another reason Harvard has struggled this year is scoring defense. While 18-year-old freshman Steve Michalek has played well in goal, Harvard is still allowing 3.50 goals per game. Opponents have scored 56 times in just 16 contests. Harvard had a streak earlier this season of eight-straight games where it allowed three goals or more. All-in-all, Harvard opponents have hit the three-goal mark on 11 occasions. However, of the five teams that Harvard has held to two or less – Colgate is one.

*Through 16 games, Harvard has played to a school single-season record six ties. The Crimson still have 13 games remaining. The NCAA Division I men’s record for ties in a season is 10 and that was set in 2003 by Minnesota State. Harvard is 0-1-6 in overtime. Interestingly enough, five of the six draws have been on the road.

*The first period has been Harvard’s worst this season. Overall, opponents are outscoring Harvard 23-11 in the opening 20 minutes. In ECAC action, the Cantabs have just five goals to 13 for the opposition in the opening stanza.

*Last weekend, Harvard struggled to get the puck on goal. Saturday night against Boston University, Harvard was outshot 20-4 between the third period (16-4) and overtime (4-0). The night before against Union, Harvard managed only seven shots in the final two periods.

*The Cantabs at times this year have been the comeback kids. Earlier this season, Harvard rallied from deficits of 4-1 and 5-2 to defeat New Hampshire 7-6. In late December, the Crimson stormed back from a 4-2 deficit at North Dakota and managed to come out with a 4-4 overtime tie at Ralph Englestad Arena.

*Harvard has not won since Dec. 10, a 4-3 victory over Princeton at Hobey Baker Rink.

*Against ranked teams this season, Harvard has just one win – over Colgate on Nov. 12.

*Harvard defensemen Danny Biega and Patrick McNally are among the highest-scoring defensemen in ECAC hockey. The pair has combined for eight goals and 26 assists. Each has four scores this season while Biega has handed out four more helpers than McNally.

*Freshman Steve Michalek has taken over the starting goaltending job. The 18-year-old has played almost every minute for Harvard this season. The Crimson graduated two senior goalies from last season, Kyle Richter and Ryan Carroll. The only returnee from last year is sophomore Raphael Girard. Michalek, who prepped at Loomis Chaffee, has appeared in 15 of Harvard’s 16 games. He is 4-5-5 with 392 total saves and an .891 save percentage.

Loose Pucks – Colgate

*The Raiders come into the weekend riding a four-game losing streak. The team has yet to win a game in 2012 after earning 20 victories in the 2011 calendar year. That said, all four of Colgate’s losses have come on the road (Ferris State x2, Princeton, Quinnipiac). In the streak, Colgate has been outscored 20-7 and has allowed 11 second-period goals and three short-handed goals.

*Seven points separate first place from 10th place in the ECAC Hockey standings with six weeks remaining in the regular season. Colgate comes into the weekend in a tie for fourth place in the standings with Princeton. CU has four games at hand on both Princeton and third-place Quinnipiac. Neither the Tigers nor the Bobcats will play until February.

*Despite the recent losing skid, the Raiders still have several winning streaks intact. Colgate is unbeaten in its last six overall games at Starr Rink and against ECAC Hockey opponents; Colgate is 7-0-0 in its last seven home games. The last overall loss at Starr Rink was on Oct. 29 to Niagara (2-1) and the last home loss in ECAC Hockey play came to St. Lawrence (4-0) on Feb. 4.

*Colgate has swept the Harvard-Dartmouth weekend in each of the last two weeks. Harvard and Dartmouth were the first Colgate ECAC opponents of the 2009-10 league season. The Raiders rallied from a 4-1 deficit to stun the Crimson 5-4 in the 09-10 league opener and then up-ended Dartmouth, 3-2, the following afternoon as part of Silver Puck Weekend. Last season, Harvard and Dartmouth were the opponents for Senior Weekend. Colgate, riding a hot streak, downed nationally-ranked Dartmouth 5-3 and then edged Harvard on Senior Night 2-1.

*At home, CU is outscoring opponents in general 30-17 and ECAC foes 17-6. In a current six-game home unbeaten streak, the Raiders have outscored opponents 23-9 and have hit for at least three goals in five of six games. The visitors have scored no more than two goals in that time. Miami (Ohio) is the only road team that has scored more than three goals at Starr Rink against Colgate this season.

*In Colgate’s seven-game ECAC unbeaten string at home, the Raiders have defeated Clarkson (twice), Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence.

*The penalty kill for Colgate has been an issue of late. Dating back to the St. Lawrence home game on Dec. 3, Colgate is 21-for-30 (70.0%) on the PK. The Raiders have allowed two power play goals in a game four times in that span (Quinnipiac, Princeton, Canisius and St. Lawrence). For the season, Colgate’s PK numbers have dropped below 80.0%. The Raiders have also not scored a short-handed goal since Dec. 30 against Canisius. In league play, Colgate is 77.6% on the PK which ranks 10th of 12 teams.

*The second period has also been a sore spot as of late with eight goals yielded last weekend and 11 in total during a four-game slide since the start of the calendar year. For the season, Colgate has been outscored 25-21 in the second period. In ECAC games, Colgate has allowed a league-worst 15 goals in the middle stanza. However, the first period for the ‘Gate has been outstanding with a 21-14 goal margin in the opening 20 minutes. And against ECAC foes, the Raiders are tied for the league lead with just four goals allowed in the first frame.

*Colgate has scored 21 goals in the first two and last two minutes of a period this season. When the Raiders do pot one of these goals, they are 9-2-1. However, Colgate has given up 13 goals in a first or last two and a half minutes of a period. Seven of the 13 goals have come in the last five games – Canisius included. Colgate allowed only three goals in that particular time in the first 10 games.

*Austin Smith remains among the top three vote getters in the fan balloting for the Hobey Baker Memorial award. Vote here. Smith leads the country with 22 goals, 1.00 goals per game and five short-handed goals. He is tied for second nationally in game-winning goals (five) and is third in points per game (1.59). Thirteen of Smith’s 22 lamp lighters have been in ECAC games. No other ECAC skater has more than eight goals in league competition.

*The senior has 138 career points in 136 games on 65 goals and 73 assists. He is three points shy of moving into a tie for 22nd place on Colgate’s all-time scoring list with current Adrian College head coach Ron Fogarty. This season, Smith has at least one point in 20 of 22 games. He had a 12-game point streak snapped last Saturday afternoon at Quinnipiac.

*While Austin Smith draws the headlines, Chris Wagner has quietly worked his way to second in ECAC Hockey with 1.40 points per game, 0.30 PPG behind league leader Austin Smith. Wagner has amassed 14 points (6-8-14) in 10 league games. This season, Wagner has 26 overall points on eight goals and 18 assists. With 18 helpers in 21 games, Wagner is averaging 0.84 assists per game and that ranks him 14th nationally among Division I players.

*Junior Robbie Bourdon is on track to play in his 100th career game this weekend. Heading into Friday night’s game with Harvard, Bourdon has skated in 98 tilts for the Raiders and he has amassed 65 career points on 29 goals and 36 assists. Barring injury, both Jeremy Price and Thomas Larkin will reach the 100-game plateau over the next two weekends.

*On the all-time games played list, Kevin McNamara can move into a tie with former teammates Jesse Winchester and Tom Riley for 13th place. Winchester and Riley each participated in 142 career games. With a spot in the line-up on Friday night, McNamara will tie Joey Mormina and Jon Smyth for 15th place.

*Staying with Kevin McNamara, the senior from Chestnut Hill, Mass. is one of 23 players nationally to receive a nomination for the 2012 BNY Mellon Hockey Humanitarian Award. McNamara’s former teammate, Ethan Cox, won the award as a senior in 2010. Overall, 12 Division I men’s ice hockey players were nominated – the other nominees are female Division I skaters as well as male/female Division III players. The finalists will be announced later this month and then the award will be handed out at the Frozen Four in April.

Game Recap: Colgate at Quinnipiac (Jan. 14)

2012-01-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

Game 23: Colgate at Quinnipiac
Date: Sat., Jan. 14, 2012
Site: High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center
Score: Quinnipiac 7 Colgate 1
Records: Colgate 12-8-2 (6-4-0 ECAC), Quinnipiac 13-8-5 (5-5-4 ECAC)

Colgate Game Story
Quinnipiac Game Story
New Haven Register
Box Score

Quick Analysis
Unfortunately when it rains, it pours. The Raiders were outstanding in the first period however the next 40 minutes did not go as planned with Quinnipiac striking early and often in the second period to take control of the game. Colgate played hard in the second though the bad bounces, bad mistakes and troubles from last season were present and on-display.

The Good
*The first period. A tough loss on Friday night, a late-night bus ride from New Jersey to Connecticut and an afternoon game all came together as the perfect recipe for a possible slow start. However, the possible slow start never materialized and the Raiders came storming out of the locker room. The first period may have been Colgate’s best 20 minutes of road hockey since a 4-1 win over Vermont on Nov. 25 at Gutterson Field House.

*The power play in the first period against one of the nation’s best penalty-killing teams was outstanding. Quinnipiac entered the game fourth nationally in the PK (88.8%). The Raiders, against a lackadaisical box formation, moved the puck strongly around the perimeter, generated good chances and eventually generated a power play score on the re-direction of a blue-line shot. Now although Colgate finished 1-for-6 and didn’t fair as well against a more aggressive kill later in the game, the success of the power play in the first period was duly noted.

*Sure, the Raiders did score only one goal but the offensive chances were there. Granted, one goal, isn’t going to do much but there were chances had – namely by the Smith, Wilson and Wagner combination. These chances included several odd-man rushes. As long as the team can generate chances, eventually the puck is going to go into the net.

*Three of the next four games are inside the friendly confines of Starr Rink. The Raiders have swept three-straight league home weekends and have not lost an ECAC game at Starr Rink since Feb. 4.

*As we said after the Princeton game, there is still a lot of hockey left to be played. No team in the league outside of possibly Cornell and Union appears immune to a bad weekend in general. The Raiders still have four games at hand on Princeton/Quinnipiac and one weekend sweep or at worst 3-point weekend will vault them right back towards the top of the table.

The Bad
*Quinnipiac ended up with unofficially four or five breakaways. Several of the breakaways came when Colgate was pressuring on the power play and was caught with too many men down low. Other breakaways came on simple giveaways at the blue line against aggressive pressure up top. The Raiders allowed a hand full of breakaways in the first half of the season. That many breakaways regardless of how good your goaltending is cannot simply be tolerated.

*Offensively trying to do too much. We haven’t written about this however it has become evident over the last few games that some of the Raiders are simply pushing too hard offensively and trying to force plays that simply aren’t there. This has been evidenced by trying to skate through a double team or into traffic with the puck. Other times it’s trying to make the extra, extra pass in an attempt to set up a pretty good or firing the puck ahead with a saucer pass through too many sticks in the neutral zone. And from this sloppiness and turnovers have resulted. Offensively speaking, Colgate wasn’t doing anything fancy in the first half of the season to score goals, the team needs to get back to that.

*Another so-so night for the penalty kill. On the good side of things, CU killed off the first four Quinnipiac power plays of the game and generally looked better than it did on Friday night against Princeton. However some frustration penalties late in the game with Quinnipiac already ahead by four led to extra power play time and two Quinnipiac power play goals. All of the sudden, the Raiders have yielded 20 power play goals in 22 games and the penalty kill conversion rate has dropped below 80.0% for the first time since mid-November. The team has had a good number of short-handed chances but the high risk-high reward of short-handed rushes hasn’t paid off lately.

*It was a tough goaltending and team defense weekend in general with 13 goals allowed in two games. Not all of the blame can be laid on the goaltenders or on the defensive coverage though the team (everyone) defensive effort in general was poor. Included in some of the woes were gaffes in defensive zone coverage leading to wide open Quinnipiac shooting alleys, bad decisions on clearing attempts and first passes, giveaways and losing battles along the wall and in front of the net. Some of the same problems were present in last weekend’s series at Ferris State.

*Above we spoke about increased offensive chances, though other times the Raiders seemed vanilla in the offensive game. Vanilla meaning that Colgate would hammer the puck into the attack zone, Quinnipiac defenders would win the race to the puck first and then pound it out the other end of the rink. Granted, some of this had to do with the fast boards at the TD Bank Sports Center but when the Raiders have been most successful (that we’ve seen) is by entering into the zone with the puck i.e. skating it in and then trying to set the play up that way as opposed to dump-and-chase hockey.

*Bad penalties. Frustration mounted of course as the game went on and the Raiders left themselves open to taking some dumb penalties in the third period. Not really much more to say on that, it's fairly obvious.

The Turning Point
*Sixteen seconds…..sixteen seconds into the second period, Quinnipiac erased a 1-0 Colgate advantage with a sharp-angle shot goal from the left-wing boards on an innocuous-looking play. While ‘Gate played a strong first period, the Q-Cats were able to tie the game in the middle stanza before the fans had a chance to get settled back into their seats. Sixteen seconds…there were 16 seconds left in the second when Jeremy Langlois scored on a short-handed breakaway to balloon Quinnipiac’s lead from 3-1 to 4-1.

This and That…
*The game did not start until 4:15 p.m. because of a delay in the arrival of one of the referees and one of the linsemen. Just two officials skated during warm-ups and the full officiating crew was not on the ice all together until the National Anthem. The delay in the start time marked the second-straight year that Colgate and Quinnipiac have had to delay their face-off at the Bank. Last year’s game was delayed due to a massive snowstorm that kept the Raiders from arriving at the rink until 6:00 p.m.

*In other referee news, the third period and the end of the second period were played with just one referee and two linesmen. Referee Jack Millea appeared to injure his shoulder in the second period. He skated off to the locker room and did not return. Chip Malafronte of the New Haven Register reported on his Twitter account that Millea suffered a shoulder injury.

*Freshman Steve Estep, a walk-on from the rowing team, made his debut in goal on Saturday during the third period. The Afton, Minn., native stopped four of the six shots he faced in just about 11 minutes of action.

*”Mr. Hockey” Gordie Howe, the 1984 Colgate Silver Puck Club Gold Puck recipient, was present at the game. According to the New Haven Register, Howe watched the game from the Presidents’ Box.

*Colgate concluded its’ afternoon game portion of the schedule with a 2-2-0 record. Colgate registered wins over Robert Morris and Princeton and losses were to Ferris State and Quinnipiac.

*Hobey Baker Memorial Award candidate Austin Smith was held without a single point for just the second time this season. The last time that Smith was held pointless was on Nov. 5 at Yale. Smith’s scoreless Saturday snapped a string of 12-straight games with at least one point. The longest current point streak belongs to Chris Wagner with at least one point in three-straight games.

*A large Colgate contingent took in Saturday’s game at the TD Bank Sports Center. Raider Maroon and White were most prevalent in the end-zone and corner sections of the seating bowl below the window looking out to the parking lot.

*For the first time in the history of the Colgate-Quinnipiac series, the two teams split their regular season series with each side winning once. In previous years, there was either a sweep or at least one of the games was a tie. Quinnipiac has taken the lead in the overall series 10-9-2.

*Robbie Bourdon’s assist on Chris Wagner’s power play goal was his 64th career point. On Colgate’s all-time scoring list, Bourdon has moved into a tie for 106th place with Bill McCreary ’80. The junior from Montreal needs just three more points to move into Colgate’s top 100 all-time.

2011-2012 Season, Game 23: Colgate at Quinnipiac

2012-01-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

Game 23: Colgate (12-7-2, 6-3-0 ECAC) at Quinnipiac (12-8-5, 4-5-4, ECAC)
Date: Sat., Jan. 14, 2012
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Site: High Point Solutions Arena at TD Bank Sports Center; Hamden, Conn.
Radio: 93.9 FM WKXZ Norwich
Internet Broadcast: WKXZfm.com (http://www.wkxzfm.com), TEAMLINE (http://www.teamline.cc)
Internet Video: http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com
Live Stats: http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com

Opponent: Quinnipiac University
Nickname: Bobcats
Location: Hamden, Conn.
Conference: ECAC Hockey
2011-2012 Record: 12-8-5 (4-5-4 ECAC)
2011-2012 Non-Conference Record: 8-3-1
Wins: Ohio State, Holy Cross, Canisius (x2), Bentley, Robert Morris, Princeton (x2),, UMass, RPI, Sacred Heart, Yale
Losses: Ohio State, Robert Morris, Dartmouth, St. Lawrence, Colgate, Cornell (x2), Nebraska Omaha
Ties: Harvard, Clarkson, Union, Nebraska Omaha, Brown
Current League Standing: Tied for second place with Colgate
Preseason Ranking: Sixth (Coaches & Media)
2009-2010 Record: 16-15-8 (6-9-7 ECAC Hockey)
Head Coach: Rand Pecknold (Connecticut College 1990), 18th season
Overall Record: 329-224-61 through 18 seasons

Last Time Out…
Colgate 3 Quinnipiac 1
Date: Nov. 18, 2011
Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y. (Silver Puck Weekend)
*Austin Smith recorded his second-career hat trick and Alex Evin made 31 saves as the Raiders ended a five-game overall losing streak against the Bobcats. All three of Smith’s goals came in the final two minutes of a period –first, second and third. Incidentally, Smith’s only previous hat trick also came against Quinnipiac in the 2008-09 ECAC playoffs.

*Colgate’s Thomas Larkin and Chris Wagner each had two assists.

*The two teams combined for just five power-play opporuntiies and seven penalties. Quinnipiac went 0-for-3 on the power play while Colgate went 0-for-2. Each team had two power plays in the third period after just one man-advantage chance in the first 40 minutes that went to the Bobcats.

*The Hamden, Conn., side outshot Colgate 32-26 on the strength of a 14-6 shot on goal advantage in the first period.

While Quinnipiac did outshoot Colgate, the Bobcats had many more shots that were not on target and sent wide of the goal.

*Alex Evin notched his first career victory over Quinnipiac and his second win of the season with a 31-save effort. Evin was making his first start in nearly three weeks after not playing in Colgate’s first four ECAC league games.

*The lone Quinnipiac goal was scored by Connor Jones in the first period with an extra attacker in a delayed penalty situation.

*Read our game recap HERE

All-Time Series: 9-9-2 Tied (20 games)
First Meeting: Dec. 2, 2005 (Colgate 4-3; Starr Rink, Hamilton, N.Y.)
Last Meeting: Nov. 18, 2011 (Colgate 3-1; Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.)
Last Colgate Win: Nov. 18, 2011 (Colgate 3-1; Starr Rink, Hamilton, N.Y.)
Last Quinnipiac Win: Jan. 7, 2011 (Quinnipiac 3-1; TD Bank Sports Center; Hamden, Conn.)
Home: 5-4-1 Colgate
Road: 5-4-0 Quinnipiac
Neutral: 0-0-1 Neutral

*Naturally Quinnipiac is Colgate’s least-played conference opponent with just 20 all-time games. Colgate and

Quinnipiac did not play against one another when Quinnipiac was a member of Atlantic Hockey. The two teams first played in 2005-06 when the Bobcats joined ECAC Hockey.

*Colgate’s victory over Quinnipiac in November ended a five-game losing streak against the Bobcats that stretched back all the way to the 2008-09 ECAC playoffs. The Bobcats defeated the Raiders in Game 3 of a best-of-three series and then swept the Raiders back-to-back in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

*All-time at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center, Colgate is 3-4-0. The Raiders have not beaten the Bobcats in Hamden since Game 2 of the 2008-09 ECAC playoffs. However, Colgate did come out victorious in its’ first two trips to Hamden in 2007-08 and 2008-09 with overtime game-winning goals from Tyler Burton and Peter Bogdanich.

*Quinnipiac and Colgate have gone to overtime seven times in 20 games, just two of those contests ended up in ties. All-time against Quinnipiac, Colgate is 3-2-2. However, the two teams have not played an overtime game since the 2008-09 playoffs.

*The Raiders and Bobcats have played 15-straight games decided by two goals or less. Just twice in the all-time series has a team won by three goals or more – in both cases, the games were in the 2005-06 ECAC playoffs. Interestingly, the last three games between Colgate and Quinnipiac have resulted in a 3-1 score.

*Since potting 10 goals against Quinnipiac’s Bud Fischer in the 2008-09 ECAC playoffs, the Raiders have scored just one goal at TD Bank Sports Center in the last 120 minutes of game action. Quinnipiac shut out Colgate, 2-0, in 2009-10 on national television (CBS College Sports) and then the Raiders were tripped up by the Bobcats last season, 3-1, on a snowy Friday night in early January.

Current Leading Scorers – Quinnipiac (Entering the weekend)
Connor Jones (So. F) 5-16-21
Jeremy Langlois (Jr. F) 12-8-20
Matthew Peca (Fr. F) 5-11-16
Kellen Jones (So. F) 5-10-15
Scott Zurevinski (Sr. F) 4-11-15
*Eric Hartzell (Jr. G) 6-4-5, 2.00, .916
*Dan Clarke (Sr. G) 6-3-0, 2.05, .901

Loose Pucks – Quinnipiac
*The Bobcats have already played 25 games this season and will be playing their 26th on Saturday afternoon. No other ECAC Hockey team has played more games. Quinnipiac will take a two-week break after Saturday and not play another game until February. Even though Colgate and Quinnipiac are tied for fifth place in the league, CU has four games at hand.

*Friday night, Cornell scored two short-handed goals in the third period to upend Quinnipiac, 3-2, at the TD Bank Sports Center. Quinnipiac led 2-1 through two periods on the strength of back-to-back goals by Jeremy Langlois and Zack Currie. Quinnipiac outshot Cornell 33-19 including 24-14 over the final two periods. The ‘Cats held Cornell to an 0-for-5 effort on the power play.

*Since being swept in upstate New York by Cornell and Colgate, Quinnipiac has lost just two games – one to Nebraska Omaha and one to Cornell. The Bobcats are 5-2-3 in the 10 games since their New York trip.

*Jeremy Langlois and Austin Smith were battling for the national scoring lead when Quinnipiac rolled into Starr Rink in mid-November. Langlois did not score against Colgate and he has just three goals in his last 10 games.

*Quinnipiac is among the national leaders in scoring defense. The Bobcats are ranked seventh nationally, allowing 2.20 goals per game which amounts to 55 goals given up in 25 games. Goaltenders Dan Clarke and Eric Hartzell each have a goals against average below 2.10. Hartzell, who has played a majority of the minutes in half, boasts a 2.06 GAA while Clarke clocks in with a 2.05 GAA.

*The national rankings also show Quinnipiac towards the top of the table in penalty killing. The Q-Cats are fourth nationally in the penalty kill with an 88.8% success rate (95-for-107) and three short-handed goals. Only Robert Morris, Yale and Boston College have a been penalty kill in terms of numbers.

*Eight Bobcats have recorded at least 10 points and two of the eight, Connor Jones and Jeremy Langlois, have surpassed the 20-point plateau. Overall, 23 of 25 Quinnipiac players have posted a point this season and that includes goaltender Eric Hartzell.

Loose Pucks – Colgate
*Colgate is playing its fourth “afternoon” game of the season. With a 4:00 p.m. start time, the Raiders are 2-1-0 with victories over Robert Morris and Princeton and a loss to Ferris State. Unless the schedule changes for whatever reason (weather-related), Saturday will be Colgate’s final “afternoon” game of the regular season.

*The last two players to wear the number 9 for Colgate have been Austin Smith (currently) and Tyler Burton. Burton wore the number through his graduation in 2008 and Smith has worn the number since. Between the two, the number 9 sweater has accounted for 293 total points on 147 goals and 146 assists. Burton finished his Colgate career tied for 16th on Colgate’s all-time scoring list with 155 career points. Smith is just 17 points behind Burton.

*Chris Wagner is on pace to break into Colgate’s top 10 all-time in single season assists. Through 21 games; the sophomore from Walpole, Mass., has 18 helpers. Wagner stands just three helpers behind last year’s team assist leader – Austin Smith (21). It should also be noted that Wagner, despite leading the team in penalty minutes, has accrued only four penalty minutes in his last five games played and six overall.

*The Colgate power play remains at over a 20.0% clip for the season after CU recorded a 1-for-5 effort on Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink. Colgate has scored 22 power play goals which is one shy of last years’ total through 42 games. Austin Smith, Austin Mayer and Robbie Bourdon each have potted four power play goals.

*Princeton’s six goals on Friday night tied the most goals that Colgate has allowed this season. The Raiders gave up six previously on Oct. 28 to Niagara at Dwyer Arena however that game ended in a 7-6 overtime victory. Friday night was just the second time this year that CU has allowed more than four goals in a single game. Princeton’s previous recent high against Colgate was seven scored in a 2007-08 7-2 romp at Hobey Baker Rink.

*The 2012 calendar year has seen Colgate allow 13 total goals. Meanwhile the Raiders have scored only six times with Austin Smith potting three of those goals. One should also note however that all three games that Colgate has played since the calendar changed have been on the road.

*One note, interesting or not, when having a full complement of “healthy” skaters this year (i.e. no injured scratches), Colgate is 2-4. The Raiders have wins over Robert Morris and Nebraska Omaha and losses to Miami, Ferris State (x2) and Princeton.

*As previously mentioned, Saturday’s game in Hamden, Conn., will mark Colgate’s final regular season game outside of New York State. Seven of Colgate’s remaining 12 tilts will be at Starr Rink and then five remaining road games are no more than a 3.5 hour drive away in the Empire State.

Game Recap: Colgate at Princeton (Jan. 13)

2012-01-16T08:41:00.000-08:00

Game 22: Colgate at Princeton
Date: Fri., Jan. 13, 2012
Site: Hobey Baker Rink; Princeton, N.J.
Score: Princeton 6 Colgate 2
Records: Colgate 12-7-2 (6-3-0 ECAC), Princeton 6-10-4 (5-8-1 ECAC)

{Editors' Note: The game recap was completed on Saturday however Blogger decided it did not want to work correctly and publish posts at the time. We apologize for the delay.}

Colgate Game Story
Princeton Game Story
Video Highlights
Box Score

Quick Analysis

First and third periods, not bad. Unfortunately the second period was another story.

The Good
*Austin Smith continued his torrid pace with two more goals – he now has 22 in 21 overall games this season. Thirteen of his goals have come against ECAC Hockey opponents. Smith is by far the front-runner right now for the ECAC Player of the Year award and he certainly appears to be a top candidate for the Hobey Baker Award. Smith had another outstanding offensive game with one goal on a power-play rush with Chris Wagner and another came when he swept in a rebound after winning a net-front battle with a Princeton defenseman. While the team as a whole played well in the first half of the season, one has to wonder where the Raiders would be without number 9?

*Staying with Smith, the line of Chris Wagner, Austin Smith and Joe Wilson was Colgate’s best (in terms of offense) on the ice for the second-straight game. The trio generated the majority of Colgate’s offensive chances, got to the puck quickly and made good decisions and threw the puck at the net. Wagner added two more helpers and he is up to 18 for the season while Wilson had several good offensive chances and played a solid game. With the level that the three are playing at right now, it’s no surprise that they’re Colgate’s top offensive unit.

*While the offense produced just two goals, the Raiders were able to do one thing very well that was not done at all last weekend against Ferris State and that is get the puck down low into the corners and start the cycle. Last weekend produced zero cycle or consistent offensive zone presence. Right off the puck drop on Friday, the Nick Prockow, Austin Mayer and Matt Firman line was able to get the puck down low, cycle and create offensive chances. The trio continued to get the puck down low throughout the game though it didn’t necessarily result in shots on goal. Still, the re-emergence of Colgate being able to move the puck in down low is a good thing.

*Kind of a moral victory type of thing here but the Raiders continued to battle until the final horn. Down by four in the final minutes, Colgate could have packed it in and gone through the motions until the end of the game. The Raiders didn’t and kept the fight going right until the very end. It was good to see the team not quit even faced with a large disadvantage.

*There are still 13 more ECAC Hockey league games left. While Friday certainly does not leave a good taste in the mouth, there is still a long way to go before the Cleary and Whitelaw Cups are handed out. As we wrote last month, the Cleary Cup isn’t won in December. Colgate has four games at hand on both Princeton and Quinnipiac so the current standings are slightly skewed. And even with a loss on Friday, CU still has a chance to salvage a weekend split with a win on Saturday and that would give Gate two valuable points.

The Bad
*Austin Smith and the line of Smith, Chris Wagner and Joe Wilson cannot carry the team offensively; well, they can but it won’t lead to many wins. All of the sudden, Smith has scored three-straight goals for Colgate over the last two games and a line other than Wilson-Smith-Wagner has not scored since the Canisius game on Dec. 30 – that encompasses three games in a row. The other three lines had some chances though the most consistent offensive chances were generated by Smith, Wagner and Wilson. When Colgate was winning in the first half of the season, the offense, while sparked primarily by Smith, was spread throughout the line-up with everyone contributing goals. That needs to start again or it will be a long second half.

*Offensively speaking, the Maroon and White was not able to penetrate the teeth of the Princeton defense and many of Colgate’s shots came from the circles on out. The majority of Colgate’s shots on goal were from the outer perimeter and while there were several chances that ended up on net from the high-traffic area; none went in outside of Smith's second score. We’ve written about this before – CU simply has to get the puck into the high-traffic area to be able to finish and score goals; that includes dirty and gritty goals which Colgate does not have enough of this season. Austin Smith’s second goal qualifies as a quote-un-quote dirty goal however those have been few and far between this year.

*The second period. This was easily Colgate’s worst period of the season and not just in terms of the score which for the period ended up being Princeton 4 Colgate 0. All four of PU’s goals came in a 13-minute span, two of the four goals were on the power play. Shots in the period weren’t indicative of the play as the majority of Colgate’s shots on goal came after Princeton had scored three-straight goals to go ahead 4-1. The second period wasn’t the entire reason that the Raiders lost but it was most definitely a big factor.

*Defensively however it was a tough night for the Smith, Wagner and Wilson line. Not to pick on them specifically but it’s very rare, at least this season, to see all three of them with a minus(-) next to their name on the score sheet. Several times, Smith and Wagner were caught deep in the offensive zone as Princeton went racing to the other end of the ice. One of those sequences came in the 16-second span in between Princeton’s second and third goals.

*A lack of transition defense that stemmed namely from Colgate getting caught with too many men down low. One of the hallmarks of Princeton’s teams over the last 4-5 years has been the ability to transition quickly from one end of the rink to the other, especially at home – helped in the second period by a short offensive change. This was certainly present on Friday night as Princeton had fast break after countless fast break into the offensive zone, many of which were in odd-man situations. Most of the time this stemmed from the Raiders selling out offensively and bringing too many players down low while there was no strong support at the blue line. Other times, Colgate would give the puck up in the neutral zone or Princeton would simply gain entry into the offensive zone through good neutral zone skating. In the end, Colgate’s transition defense just was not quick enough and the offense did not make adjustments.

*Defense in general. Again, much like the transition defense, this was a team struggle as opposed to just the defensemen or forwards. The tendency in a six-goal allowed effort is to blame the goalie but Friday night was not entirely Eric Mihalik’s fault; he was hung out to dry on a few occasions. Princeton won countless battles for pucks along the wall and in the corners and won more than a few net-front scrums looking for loose pucks. There were also times when the Raiders were too careless in their own zone and were not able to clear the puck. One long prolonged fore-check sequence for Princeton, which included several bad clearing attempts by CU, ended up the Tigers’ first goal. Other times the Raiders would just give the puck away in their own zone trying to too fine with a first pass or just plain careless. The defensive effort earlier this season, even just last month, was much better.

*The penalty kill continues to have trouble. The Raiders have now allowed two power play goals in three of their last six games (St. Lawrence, Canisius, Princeton). The defensive zone coverage on Princeton’s second power play goal was almost non-existent and crisp, hard passes through the seams in the defense allowed Jack Berger to sit in front of the Colgate goal crease all alone and he one-timed in a pass for Princeton’s fifth goal. Overall, the penalty kill still is operating at around 80.0% but the PK stock for Colgate seems to be falling rather than rising.

*Included in Colgate’s penalty kill woes on Friday night was the tendency to take some bad and untimely penalties. As opposed to last weekend, the referees weren’t the problem here. In the decisive second period, Colgate was called for three penalties, two of which led to Princeton power play goals. One of the penalties came in the opening minute of play and then the second was called in the final minute of the frame. Untimely penalties were a major undoing point for Colgate last season and these infractions have reared their ugly head on more than one occasion this season.

The Turning Point
While two goals in the lightning-fast span of 16 seconds apart broke a 1-1 tie and put Princeton ahead 3-1, a power play goal late in the second period by Princeton’s Jack Berger sent the Orange and Black into the locker room with a 5-1 advantage. Three goals is a manageable deficit, Colgate has battled back from that before (see Niagara road, Harvard home 2009-10). However it’s a much different scenario down by four having allowed a power play goal in the final 30 seconds of a period.

This and That…
*Colgate and Princeton split their regular season series for the first time since 2006-2007, and that year, Colgate won at Baker Rink while Princeton triumphed at Starr Rink. The split ended a streak of four-straight years where the Raiders or the Tigers have swept both meetings.

*Barring a playoff series, Colgate and Princeton will play their 100th all-time game next season.

*Austin Smith registered his 36th career multi-point game and his 12th multi-goal game. Smith’s 22 goals rank first nationally among all Division I players. For his career, Smith has 138 points on 65 goals and 73 assists. He is five goals away from joining Colgate’s exclusive 70-goal club. Only 13 skaters in Colgate history have recorded 70 goals or more. And there are just 12 players that have registered at least 70 goals and 70 assists.

*Friday night, Austin Smith and Minnesota-Duluth’s Jack Connelly each had two points. They both have 35 points this season, Connelly has played one less game.

*The last time Colgate began the Princeton-Quinnipiac weekend with a loss at Princeton, the Raiders rebounded with a 4-3 overtime win at Quinnipiac. That was in the 2007-2008 season.

*Since returning from the holiday break, the Raiders are 1-3-0. Colgate is also 0-3-0 in the 2012 calendar year. The Raiders are on their first three-game losing streak since a 14-game winless string last season that lasted from Dec. 11 through Feb. 4.

*While Colgate has not yet played every Ivy League opponent this season, the Raiders have amassed a 3-3-0 record against the Ancient Eight. CU plays the remaining five Ivies at least once, Cornell of course twice.

*Chris Wagner has six games this season with at least two assists. While Austin Smith has scored Colgate’s last three goals, Chris Wagner has been credited with the primary assist on all three goals.

2011-2012 Season, Game 22: Colgate at Princeton

2012-01-13T08:33:00.000-08:00

Game 22: Colgate (12-6-2, 6-2-0 ECAC) at Princeton (5-10-4, 4-8-1 ECAC)

Date: Fri., Jan. 13, 2012

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Site: Hobey Baker Rink; Princeton, N.J.

Radio: 93.9 FM WKXZ Norwich

Internet Broadcast: WKXZfm.com (http://www.wkxzfm.com), TEAMLINE (http://www.teamline.cc)

Internet Video: http://www.goprincetontigers.com

Live Stats: http://www.goprincetontigers.com

Opponent: Princeton University

Nickname: Tigers

Location: Princeton, N.J.

Conference: ECAC Hockey

2011-2012 Record: 5-10-4 (4-8-1, ECAC Hockey)

2011-2012 Non-Conference Record: 1-2-3

Wins: Harvard, Clarkson, Providence, RPI, Brown

Losses: Brown, Quinnipiac (x2), Dartmouth, St. Lawrence, Cornell, Colgate, Denver, Harvard, Yale

Ties: Yale, Union, Northeastern, Niagara

Current League Standing: Tied for seventh place with Dartmouth

Preseason Ranking: Seventh (Media), Eighth (Coaches)

2009-2010 Record: 17-13-2 (11-9-2 ECAC Hockey)

Head Coach: Bob Prier (St. Lawrence 1999), First season

Overall Record: 5-10-4

Last Time Out…

Colgate 4 Princeton 1

Date: Nov. 19, 2011

Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y. (Silver Puck Weekend)

*The Raiders scored twice in the first period and then pulled away from Princeton with two special teams goals 126 seconds apart in the third period to earn a 4-1 victory on the Saturday of Silver Puck Weekend.

*Austin Smith scored twice for the Raiders, once in the first period to spot CU a 2-0 edge and then again in the third with a short-handed strike to salt the game away at 4-1.

*Colgate outshot Princeton 46-32. The Maroon and White threw 36 shots on Princeton’s Sean Bonar in the second and third periods. Bonar made a career-high 41 saves to keep the Tigers in the game.

*Colgate went 2-for-6 on the power play while the Princeton was held to an 0-for-3 afternoon. Colgate took just four total penalties, one of which was issued at the final horn.

*The Raiders were led by Austin Smith (2-0-2), Austin Mayer (1-1-2), Kevin McNamara (0-2-2) and Thomas Larkin (0-2-2). John Lidgett scored his first collegiate goal in the third period.

*Rob Kleebaum scored Princeton’s lone goal early in the third period. The Tigers were called for six penalties in the game and five of the six were called in a row. Colgate’s power play had on-and-off chances throughout the first half of the third period already with a 2-1 lead.

*Read our Game Recap: Colgate vs. Princeton HERE.

All-Time Series: 48-43-6 Colgate (97 games)

First Meeting: Dec. 18, 1935 (Princeton 10-2; Princeton, N.J.)

Last Meeting: Nov. 19, 2011 (Colgate 4-1; Starr Rink, Hamilton, N.Y.)

Last Colgate Win: Nov. 19, 2011 (Colgate 4-1; Starr Rink, Hamilton, N.Y.)

Last Princeton Win: Jan. 9, 2011 (Princeton 5-4; Hobey Baker Rink; Princeton, N.J.)

Home: 26-14-2 Colgate

Road: 24-21-4 Princeton

Neutral: 5-1-0 Princeton

Series Notes

*Friday night, Colgate will be looking for its second sweep of Princeton in the last three years. The Raiders last swept the Tigers in the 2009-2010 season. CU nipped Princeton, 5-4, at Starr Rink in November and then won at Hobey Baker Rink, 3-1, in February.

*Over the last four seasons, the Colgate-Princeton series has ended in a sweep, either for Princeton or for Colgate. Princeton swept Colgate in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2010-11. As mentioned above, CU swept Princeton in 2009-10. The last time the series was split was in 2006-2007. Colgate triumphed at Hobey’s House in November and then the Orange and Black edged the Raiders, 2-1, at Starr Rink three months later.

*Colgate and Princeton have combined for at least four goals in six-straight games. The last “low-scoring” game between the two teams was a 3-0 Princeton victory in the 2008 ECAC semifinals at the Times Union Center in Albany. Five of the last six have seen the aggregate score between the two teams exceed five. The Raiders and Tigers have also played several 5-4 games with each team winning once.

*Last year at Hobey Baker Rink, Princeton won a wild score-fest over Colgate, 5-4, on ESPNU with Barry Melrose in attendance. The two teams combined for more than several power play goals.

*Should Colgate and Princeton not meet again this season (i.e. in the playoffs), the two teams would play their 100th game against one another next season. Friday night’s contest will be the 98th in the all-time series. Colgate is also two victories away from 50 against Princeton. The only teams that Colgate has 50 wins over are Brown, Cornell, RPI and St. Lawrence.

*The Orange and Black and the Maroon and White have played 15 overtime games all-time. Colgate won the last overtime game between the two schools 5-4 at Starr Rink in Nov. 2009.

*In the ECAC playoffs, Princeton is 3-1-0 against Colgate.

Current Leading Scorers – Princeton

Jack Berger (So. F) 7-7-14

Michael Sdao (Jr. D) 6-8-14

Andrew Calof (So. F) 5-8-13

Derrick Pallis (Sr. D) 2-8-10

Rob Kleebaum (Jr. F) 6-1-7

Marc Hagel (Sr. F) 5-2-7

*Sean Bonar (So. G) 4-6-3, 2.94 GAA, .899 SV %

*Mike Condon (Jr. G) 1-4-1, 3.09 GAA, .915 SV %

Loose Pucks – Princeton

*After this weekend, the Tigers will not play another game until Jan. 31 because of first-semester final exams. Princeton will tangle with UCONN in a non-conference home game on Jan. 31 and then will resume ECAC play the following weekend with seven league games remaining over the final four weeks of the season.

*Last weekend, the Orange and Black split two road games against Ivy League foes Brown and Yale. Princeton nipped Brown, 3-2, in overtime behind a goal from Michael Sdao. The following day, Yale blitzed Princeton, 6-2, at Ingalls Rink. The Tigers did have a 1-0 lead and then Yale ripped off four-straight goals.

*Princeton has allowed at least 38 shots in its last four games. The trend started at Minnesota’s Mariucci Classic when Princeton allowed Northeastern 42 shots and then 38 to Niagara the following day. Both games ended up being 3-3 overtime ties. Last weekend, Brown amassed 42 shots on Friday and Yale pumped 45 at the Princeton goal on Saturday. Mike Condon started both games last week for Princeton and made 40 saves each night.

*Much like the last time Colgate played Princeton, the Tigers are still having trouble scoring. Princeton is averaging 2.42 goals per game (2.53 goals against ECAC opponents). The Orange and Black’s top scorers, sophomore forward Jack Berger and junior defenseman Michael Sdao each have 14 points. Berger has a team-high seven goals (also seven helpers) while Sdao has scored six times and doled out eight assists. Overall, PU has 46 goals in 19 games.

*Remarkably, half of Princeton’s total goals have been scored in the third period. The Tigers have netted an incredible 23 third-period goals. Princeton has combined for just 22 in the first two periods. Princeton scored once in the third period against Colgate in the first meeting between the two teams this season.

*Nearly half of Princeton’s goals have been on special teams. Twenty-one of the Tigers’ 46 goals have been scored either on the power play, penalty kill or in other special teams situations. Princeton’s power play (20.5%) is in the top half of the nation and the Tigers are operating at 20.4% in ECAC games.

*All five of Princeton’s victories this season have come when the Tigers have recorded three goals or more. When scoring three or more goals, PU is 5-2-3. This has produced victories over Harvard, Clarkson, Providence, RPI and Brown. Interestingly, Princeton has also played to three 3-3 overtime ties with all three coming since the start of December (Union, Northeastern, Niagara).

Loose Pucks – Colgate

*Colgate enters into the Princeton-Quinnipiac weekend coming off a road weekend sweep at the hands of Ferris State. Last weekend marked the first time all year that Colgate has lost back-to-back games. That had not happened since the 2011 ECAC championships when Yale and Dartmouth swept Colgate in Atlantic City.

*Speaking of sweeps, Colgate has never swept the Princeton-Quinnipiac weekend. The two became travel partners in 2005-2006 when Quinnipiac joined ECAC Hockey which coincided with Vermont’s departure to Hockey East. The best Colgate has done against the travel partners is split. Last season, Colgate fell to Quinnipiac 3-1 and then dropped a 5-4 score-fest to Princeton. Incidentally, Colgate has not swept a league road weekend since 2005-06.

*That said; Colgate enters into the “second half” of league play with a 6-2-0 ECAC record and a four-game league winning streak. The Raiders have not lost an ECAC game since Nov. 12 at Harvard. Colgate is tied for second place in the league with Quinnipiac though CU has four games at hand on the Bobcats.

*Nationally speaking, despite last weekend’s woes at Ferris, the Raiders remained in both national polls this week. Colgate is ranked 12th in the USCHO.com Top 20 (down from ninth) and 14th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 15 (down from seventh). The Raiders have been ranked for most of the season and their ranking dates back to mid-October after a series split with Miami (Ohio).

*The Raiders have 14 regular season games remaining, all of which will be ECAC games. Seven of the games will be at home and seven on the road. This encompasses three two-game home weekends, three two-game road weekends and the annual home-and-home series with travel-partner Cornell.

*After this weekend, the Raiders do not travel outside of New York State the rest of the regular season. The remaining bus trips will be to Cornell (Ithaca), Union/Rensselaer (Albany area) and St. Lawrence/Clarkson (North Country). Hypothetically speaking, again, purely hypothetically, Colgate may not have to bus outside of the state until the ECAC Championships in Atlantic City.

*Austin Smith is one of 50 players on what amounts to a Hobey Baker “watch list.” Fans can vote on their favorite for the Hobey Baker Award here though fan voting makes up just 1% of the actual vote. The list of 50 players will be paired down to 10 finalists in early March and then the Hobey Hat Trick will come near the time for the NCAA tournament.

*Colgate players must be fans of the show “Friday Night Lights.” Colgate is 8-2-0 on Friday night’s this season. The Raiders loss to Ferris State last Friday night was their first Friday loss since the Miami (Ohio) series. Coincidentally enough, both Friday night losses were to CCHA teams with a player that recorded a hat trick (Reilly Smith, Jordie Johnston), each came against Colgate’s full complement of skaters and Colgate lost enough though it scored three goals. We really need more to do.

*There is a reason that Colgate is 6-2-0 in ECAC Hockey. Through eight league games, the Raiders have the best offense in the loop with 3.50 goals per game (28 goals in eight games). Meanwhile, Colgate is second in the league in scoring defense with 1.88 goals per game allowed (15 goals in eight games). In terms of special teams, the Raiders are sixth in both power play and penalty kill, essentially in the middle of the pack.

*Colgate’s unsuccessful 5-on-3 power play last Friday night (even though it was just 15 seconds) was its’ first failure to score in a 5-on-3 since the Miami (Ohio) series. The Raiders brought a streak of five-straight goals in a 5-on-3 into Ferris State. The Raiders began the season 0-for-2 in 5-on-3 chances and then reeled off five-straight goals. All told, CU is 5-for-8 in 5-on-3 situations this season. Meanwhile, against the 5-on-3, Colgate is 9-for-12.

*Quick Numbers…Road: 5-4-0…Away from Starr Rink: 6-4-1…Friday: 8-2-0…Games decided by two goals or less: 15 total, 7-6-2…Score First: 6-3-0…Opponent Scores First: 6-3-2…Leading After Two Periods: 10-1-0…Tied or Trailing After Two Periods: 2-5-2…Scoring a Power Play Goal: 8-4-0…Not Allowing an Opponent Power Play Goal: 4-2-2…Scoring Three Goals or More: 12-2-0…Allowing Three or More Goals; 3-4-0

*With two games played last weekend, Kevin McNamara has moved into the top 20 at Colgate in all-time games played. McNamara is currently tied with Cory Murphy, Etienne Morin and Kyle Doyle for 19th place in all-time games played. With two games this weekend, Kevin can move up into a tie for 17th place with former Gate captain Dave Thomas. Austin Smith is just four games away from the top 20 games played at Colgate.

*In terms of the 100 games played marked at Colgate, Robbie Bourdon needs four more games to reach the century mark. Jeremy Price is just behind Bourdon with 94 career games. Classmate Thomas Larkin has also played over 90 contests.

*Some interesting plus/minus numbers for Colgate. Hobey Baker candidate Austin Smith is among the current national leaders with a +17 rating. Last season, Smith, in 42 games, was -14. Another remarkable different in plus/minus is Colgate tri-captain Corbin McPherson. The big blue-liner was a -18 last season; this year he currently stands at +4. All total, 18 Raiders have at least an even plus/minus ratio.

*Colgate’s seven short-handed goals as a team now has company near the top of the national rankings. Boston University leads the country with eight shorties. Colgate is now tied for second place behind BU with Providence College and Minnesota State (no, not Craig T. Nelson’s Screaming Eagles but the school formerly known as Minnesota State-Mankato).

*The beat continues to go on for Austin Smith. The senior leads the nation in goals scored (20), goals per game (1.00) and short-handed goals (five). Smith is tied for first nationally with 33 overall points and five game-winning goals. He is second nationally in points per game (1.64). In total, Austin has 136 career points in 134 career games on 63 goals and 73 assists. All-time at Colgate, Smith continues to sit in 23rd place behind current Adrian College head coach and former Raider Ron Fogarty.

*One of the standout numbers from Colgate’s run in the first half of the season was the number of goals scored in the first two or last two minutes of a period. All total, CU has scored 20 goals in the opening and closing two minutes of a frame. However, the majority of those goals came early on and through the middle point of the first half. Colgate has scored just once in an early or late situation in the last five games and that came late in the first period against Canisius on Dec. 30. It should be noted that Austin Smith did tally Colgate’s lone goal against Ferris in the opening three minutes of the second period last Saturday.

*When Colgate scores in the first two minutes or last two minutes of a period, the Raiders are 9-1-1.

*With Spiro Goulakos scoring against Ferris State last weekend, the only current Colgate skaters not to have scored a goal are Nathan Sinz, Brendan Corcoran and Daniel Gentzler. Sinz is the oldest of the three now in his junior season. The longest current scoring draught goes to Billy Rivellini who has not scored since Nov. 2010.

*Despite yielding seven goals last weekend, Colgate remained near the top of the nation in scoring defense. With a scoring defense allowing 2.30 goals per game, CU is ranked eighth nationally.

Game Recap: Colgate at Ferris State (Jan. 7)

2012-01-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

Game 21: Colgate at Ferris State
Date: Sat., Jan. 7, 2012
Site: Ewigleben Ice Arena; Big Rapids, Mich.
Score: Ferris State 3 Colgate 1
Records: Colgate 12-6-2 (6-2-0 ECAC), Ferris State 13-8-1 (7-6-1 CCHA)

Colgate Game Story
Ferris State Game Story
USCHO.com Arena Report
Big Rapids Pioneer News (Subscription required)
Video Highlights
Box Score

Quick Analysis
Well hello Mr. Hyde, nice to see you again.

The Good
*Well, at least that’s over.

*The Austin Smith, Chris Wagner and Joe Wilson line was Colgate’s best on the night. The trio generated a high number of chances and consistently got the puck into the high-traffic zone and put shots on goal. Smith in particular had another fantastic night and his back-handed goal to the top shelf on a 2-on-1 rush was a thing of beauty. The line has been Colgate’s top offensive line all season and there was no question that that was the case on Saturday evening.

*The officiating was almost a night-and-day difference from Friday night. The officials did a much better job and the game had a lot more of a flow to it with fewer than eight combined penalties called. However, the game wasn’t without some controversy as Colgate’s Joe Wilson took a seemingly random 10-minute misconduct about halfway through the third period which resulted in him being sent off for the rest of the game. Other than that, there are no complaints from us about the zebras.

The Bad
*If we didn’t know any better, we’d have thought that was last year’s Colgate team out on the ice against Ferris State. The same issues that plagued CU throughout last season came about on Saturday against Ferris – lack of quality offense, poor play in the defensive zone, not winning enough physical battles along the wall, general sloppiness, lackadaisical play at times, no one outside of one line stepping up offensively and mental errors. This was probably Colgate’s worst effort of the season so far.

*The biggest thing that hurt Colgate was a simple lack of offense. The Raiders had 28 shots on goal but very few Grade-A chances. Colgate would dump the puck in and Ferris would win a race or a battle and swat the puck right back out. The Maroon and White were not able whatsoever to get a down-low cycle going with any of its lines and generally it was one-and-done as per an offensive possession. Colgate never really asserted its’ will offensively with a prolonged fore-check sequence, something that was going on as recent as the Canisius win and the Merrimack tie. As good as Austin Smith and Chris Wagner are, Colgate cannot simply win as a one-line team.

*Colgate struggled clearing the puck from the defensive zone and good decisions weren’t being made. The Raiders have in general been very good defensively this year. Part of that has been Colgate’s success at making smart decisions and clearing the zone. Saturday, and Friday as well, defenders slowly passed the puck around the boards trying to clear it and Ferris State players would hustle in, take the puck and start another chance. Very few if any Raiders looked for a bank off the glass clear. This would have helped considering the slow and choppy ice along the boards at both ends which Ferris took full advantage of and CU didn’t at least on the ice change the game plan. At times, players lost the puck in their skates, over-skated the puck or slow-played and were tied up by Ferris State forwards. FSU did not have a ferocious fore-check, the Raiders just weren’t strong enough in their own end.

*For the second night in a row, there was general sloppiness in the neutral zone in terms of general passing and then looking for a lead into the offensive zone. This was the case for both teams but it really plagued Colgate in the third period when trying to come from behind. Players would look to stretch the defense or be too cute with the puck instead of trying to enter the zone. This resulted in quick clears or passes not even getting over the FSU blue line. The Ferris defensive game and trap had something to do with this however Colgate was just too sloppy and too cute at times for its own good.

*Many of the batltes along the wall and in the corners were won by players in white sweaters. Many a time on both nights, Ferris players flocked to the puck along the boards and out-numbered the skaters in the Maroon jersey’s. This happened both in the offensive and defensive zones including on the power play and penalty kill. Ferris wasn’t an overly physical team in terms of body-checking but the Bulldogs won the physical battles along the wall and also players in the offensive zone were able to shun Colgate checkers away to maintain possession. One of the keys for CU this year has been board play, establishing a cycle and winning battles – none of those three worked this weekend.

*Slow start to periods. Two of the three Ferris State goals were scored in the opening minute of a period. FSU ended a scoreless tie 54 seconds into the second period and then the back-breaking goal to make it 3-1 Ferris was tallied in the opening 30 ticks of the third frame. You’re not going to win allowing two scores in opening minute of a period.

*Defensive breakdowns on all three goals. On the first goal, a Ferris dump-in was mis-handled behind the net when Eric Mihalik collided with one of his defensemen in an apparent miscommunication. A Ferris player was able to get the puck, move it back up top and then a wide shot caromed off of the boards to an open FSU player on the right post who stuffed it into the net quickly. The goal scorer appeared to be un-marked. The second goal came on a 2-on-2 rush as Colgate defensively did not get up the ice quick enough and the third offensive man in one-timed home a drop pass from the high slot. The third goal is described below.

The Turning Point
Colgate had around 40 seconds of carryover power play time to start the third period. The Raiders began the frame down by just a single goal at 2-1. However that would quickly change as 21 seconds into the third, Colgate was not able to hold the zone on the power play. A foot race to the other end resulted in a wipeout on the left-wing boards just above the circles. The puck rolled towards the net and FSU’s Garrett Thompson was the first player there, racing in and slipping a quick shot past Eric Mihalik to give Ferris a 3-1 lead. While Colgate pressured somewhat after getting down by two, the goal completely changed the complexion of the game. Not even 30 seconds out of the intermission locker room, it went from a one-goal game to a two-goal deficit.

This and that…
*Colgate finished the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 6-4-2 record. Three of the four losses ended up coming to teams from the CCHA – Ferris State (x2), Miami (Ohio).Regardless of the result this weekend, Colgate wrapped up non-league play with a winning mark for the first time since 2007-2008.

*Austin Smith became the first player in the nation to reach the 20-goal plateau. Smith’s career-high 20 goals have come in 20 games for an average of 1.00 goals per game. The senior has 63 career scores. Colgate’s last 20-goal scorer was Brian Day in 2009-2010. The recent high for a Colgate skater was 23 by Tyler Burton in 2007-2008. Smith is just seven goals away from Colgate’s single-season top 10. The school record for goals in a single season is held by Dan Fridgen (38, 1981-82)

*Not a highly penalized team in the first half of the season aside from the mess at Harvard, Colgate received two 10-minute misconducts on the weekend. Austin Smith was whistled for one on Friday and then Joe Wilson picked up the same penalty in the third period on Saturday.

*Colgate has trailed after two periods just four times this season. In those games, the Raiders are 0-3-1. The lone non-loss came on Oct. 22 against Army. Saturday’s 2-1 deficit through two marked the first time Colgate has been behind after two periods since Nov. 12 at Harvard. That game ended up as a 4-2 defeat at Bright Hockey Center.

*Each Colgate-Ferris State series at Ewigleben Ice Arena has ended up in a sweep. Ferris swept Colgate in Nov. 2000 and then the Raiders brought their brooms with them in Oct. 2004. And of course this weekend, the Bulldogs earned a series sweep.

*CU has lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The last time this happened was in Atlantic City last year at the ECAC championships. Colgate fell in the ECAC semifinals to Yale and then dropped the consolation game the following afternoon to Dartmouth.

*Ferris State’s third goal of the game was a short-handed goal, the first that Colgate has allowed this season. The short-handed strike snapped a Colgate streak of 21 games without allowing a short-handed goal. RPI’s Chase Polacek netted a short-handed goal in Game 2 of the Colgate-RPI series this past March (CU won the game 5-2). The Raiders yielded seven short-handed goals last season.

*Saturday marked the third time this season that Austin Smith has been Colgate’s only goal-scorer. Back in October, Smith tallied twice in a 2-2 overtime tie with Army on Cape Cod. And on Nov. 18, Smith recorded a hat trick in a 3-1 triumph over Quinnipiac at Starr Rink.

*Saturday was also the fifth time this season that Colgate has recorded two or fewer goals. In those games, CU is 0-3-2.

*Saturday’s game and the series nearly ended with a full-scale line brawl. As the final seconds ticked down, Colgate chipped the puck into the offensive zone with Robbie Bourdon in pursuit. Bourdon was just about to control the puck prior to the horn when FSU’s Chad Billins came sweeping in with a hip check aimed at Bourdon’s knees. Bourdon was spared a full impact as he side-stepped the hit though he still went down. (You can see the play briefly during the video highlights before the Bob Daniels interview). Colgate players took exception and there was a gathering in the right wing corner of the Ferris zone. Thankfully this resulted in nothing more than your garden variety grapping/pushing and shoving and cooler heads prevailed.

Game Recap: Colgate at Ferris State (Jan. 6)

2012-01-07T07:58:00.000-08:00

Game 20: Colgate at Ferris State
Date: Fri., Jan. 6, 2012
Site: Ewigleben Ice Arena; Big Rapids, Mich.
Score: Ferris State 4 Colgate 3
Records: Colgate 12-5-2 (6-2-0 ECAC), Ferris State 12-8-1 (7-6-1 CCHA)

Colgate Game Story
Ferris State Game Story
Big Rapids Pioneer News (Subscription required)

USCHO.com Arena Report
Video Highlights
Box Score

Quick Analysis
Well, the unbeaten streak had to come to an end at some point. It was a tough night for the Raiders all around. There’s still one more game left in the series for Colgate to salvage what would be a solid road split against a nationally-ranked team.

The Good
*Three goals against a team that was ranked in the top five nationally in scoring defense. Ferris entered into the weekend allowing 2.10 goals per game, Colgate scored three times in the first two periods and another shot (by Chris Wagner) banked off of the right post. Sure there could have been more offense and we’ll talk about that in just a moment but three goals on most nights is going to result in a win or possibly at least a point.

*Two goals from the blue line. A unit that did not score a lot in the first half is starting to churn out goals. Corbin McPherson scored his second goal in as many games on a power play chip shot from the slot and then Spiro Goulakos added his first of the season on a screen shot through traffic in the second period. On top of that, Kevin McNamara doled out two helpers. Scoring from the defense is never a bad thing.

*Colgate’s second and third goals came on pure hustle plays. On the second goal, a Colgate rush into the offensive zone was stood up. Mark Nasca, trailing the play, skated over the line, kept the puck in and drove it into the right corner. Nasca then tracked the puck down, fired it into the slot where he found Spiro Goulakos mid-point for his first career goal. On Colgate’s last goal, Austin Smith went 1-on-3 into the offense zone, skated wide right and in behind the net. He was able to wrap the puck around the goal where Joe Wilson found it and banged it into the net past a shocked Ferris State goaltender.

*There was no panic in the second period when Ferris State went ahead 2-1 on Jordie Johnston’s second goal. The Ferris tally came at the end of a long sequence where the Bulldogs flat-out dominated play. Colgate responded less than two minutes later with the equalizer. Colgate ended up only trailing twice in the game and less than five minutes combined between deficits of 2-1 and 4-3 (the final).

*Despite giving up four goals, Eric Mihalik played a solid game in net. He ended up with 40 saves on 44 Ferris State shots. While the shot totals were somewhat inflated (it’s different at each rink), Mihalik still played well. He made 17 saves in the first and 27 over the first two periods. There were times when Ferris was carrying the play that Mihalik simply kept the team in the game. He also battled through being run over twice and losing his mask on the play each time.

*Colgate was finally healthy for the first time since Oct. 14. Sure that didn’t impact the game but it’s nice to see the injury bug finally go away.

*The power play in general looked good. A 1-for-5 night isn’t terrific and the last power play of the night was the sloppiest but CU still managed a power play goal and eight power play shots. Seven of the eight shots came in the second period alone. Colgate also scored on its first power play of the night.

*Despite coughing up the lead in the final period, Colgate still nearly was able to sneak out with a point. Austin Smith made a superhuman play to weave through traffic through the Ferris blue-line wall as the seconds ticked down. Smith made a move in towards the net and found himself 1-on-1 with Taylor Nelson as the clock was about to hit zero. Smith scooped a back-handed shot at the net but Nelson made a diving save to preserve the lead for Ferris. The clock stopped with 00.3 seconds left.

*In the end, maybe a loss here isn't a bad thing. Keep in mind, the Raiders had been flying high with their unbeaten streak and had rocketed up the polls into the top 10 - as high as seventh in the USA Today poll. As we've said, the streak was going to end at some point. The loss and the way the team lost should help keep things in perspective and remind the team that they have to play a full and strong 60-minutes to win a game. A little bit of humility in other words is never a bad thing.

The Bad
*While the streak was going to end at some point, you’d rather not see it end with the team giving up a 3-2 lead with about seven minutes to play in the third period. It’s the first time this season that Colgate has lost when leading after two frames and it was just the second loss with the Raiders scoring three or more goals. The only prior loss was to another CCHA team, Miami (Ohio).

*Third period meltdown. Ferris State just seemed to want the game more in the third period, out-hitting, out-shooting and out-working the Raiders. While Colgate did not go into a defensive shell or a trap with the lead in the third, it just didn’t play well with the lead. Ferris constantly won board battles, Colgate defenders and forwards made poor decisions in the defensive zone and looked at times like a deer in the headlights against the physical FSU fore-check along the boards and in the corners.

*Colgate scored three goals however the Raiders mustered only 25 shots on Ferris goaltender Taylor Nelson. While CU had 16 shots in the second period alone, the team just had nine combined in the other two periods – four in the first and five in the third. Regardless of how many shots Ferris put on goal (legitimate or not), the Raiders simply have to have more shots than that to win a hockey game. Some offensive sequences mirrored that of last season where Colgate would overpass, shoot wide of the goal and then the opponent would take possession. This certainly wasn’t the same offensive effort that CU put forth over the course of the seven-game unbeaten streak.

*Along the boards and down low, Colgate simply wasn’t winning enough battles. Ferris State wasn’t an overly physical team but the Bulldogs used their size well and their bigger forwards constantly won the puck and brought it off the wall in the offensive zone. The third Ferris goal was a situation of a forward being able to walk in on the left post and then stuff the puck into the net in a scrum. While the Raiders at some spots aren’t the biggest team, they’ll need to win more 50-50 pucks on Saturday to come out with a series split.

*General sloppiness in the neutral zone. This was more apparent last week after a long lay-off but it came back more times than it should have on Friday. Passing was the biggest issue for both teams and neither side at times really wanted to control the puck. We’re sure Colgate will tighten things up as the season ramps back up from the holiday break but passes in the neutral zone need to be better. It seemed literally at times like a game of “Hot Potato.”

*Defensive zone coverage. Another bugaboo from last season really came out in spades against the Bulldogs. There were long stretches where Ferris cut the rink off at the red line and completely controlled possession in the offensive zone. And when Colgate would clear, Ferris would dump right back in and go back to work. Colgate was a little sloppy at times and suspect in the defensive zone, an issue that the Raiders haven’t had recently. And it wasn’t just the defensemen nor was it the forwards; it was more of a team type of thing. Colgate has to do a better job of maintaining the puck in the d zone and then making smart decisions to get the puck out of the zone as opposed to trying to slide it up the boards softly each time where it’s picked by a waiting d-man at the point.

*Defensive breakdowns were part of each Ferris goal; on both of Jordie Johnston’s first two goals, he was all alone at the circles to bang home a back door rebound. Each time, there was no one near him as he sat on the off wing waiting for a big rebound. And on the eventual game-winning goal, a quick transition rush keyed by good passing allowed Johnston to slip behind the defense and then dribble a shot past a sprawling Mihalik. No one for Colgate stepped up defensively and stopped the rush with a stick or body check. And on the tying goal, two Ferris forwards were able to get to the net front and literally jam the puck past Mihalik; Colgate couldn't put either forward on his backside or prevent him from crashing the goal.

*While the shot totals were slightly skewed due to shot inflation (everything’s a shot on goal essentially), Colgate can’t allow Ferris to put so many pucks on the net. The 40+ shots allowed are the most given up by the Raiders since the opening weekend of the season against UNO when Eric Mihalik made 30+ saves against Nebraska-Omaha. And really the Raiders have been more sound and responsible defensively. While a large number of shots came from the outer perimeter and were harmless, the totals added up.

*Not a great end-game situation for Colgate. We talked about the Grade-A chance Austin Smith had at the tail end of the game however the Raiders could not get Eric Mihalik pulled until there were less than 30 seconds remaining. Each time Colgate attempted to move up ice, the Raiders skated right into the Ferris State trap and the Bulldogs would dump the puck back into the CU zone. This isn’t something Colgate has had to deal a lot with being down late and pulling the goalie so we’ll give the Maroon and White a slight pass though the final few minutes could’ve gone better.

*And then we come to the officials. It was a simply dreadful performance from a CCHA crew though one wouldn’t know that by looking at the box score as penalties and power plays were generally even. CU even had one more power play than Ferris. However…what you don’t see is more than a handful of missed calls on off-sides (where CU players were wrongly called off-sides), several bad judgments in regards to hybrid icing and more than a few missed calls against Ferris players in the final few minutes that would’ve been penalties more than likely early in the game whereas Colgate took a tight call in the third that led to the tying goal. Two players late in the first were sent off for a mystifying unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and then after a really bad off-sides whistle during a Colgate 3-on-2 rush, Austin Smith was called for a 10-minute misconduct apparently for arguing and/or slashing the goal post in frustration. Smith’s argument is one that takes place at least once a night and probably would not even receive a penalty in a league game.

This and That…

*With all Friday night games final, Colgate dropped one slot in the PairWise to 14th. The Raiders are now tied with Ferris State. Colgate also fell to number 18 in the KRACH rankings, being leap-frogged by several teams including Ferris State and Cornell.

*Not only did Colgate lose for the first time when leading after two periods, the Raiders also lost their first Friday night game dating back to Oct. – Oct. 14, also against a CCHA foe, Miami (Ohio).

*Colgate is undefeated following a loss this season. The Raiders are 4-0-0 with wins over Miami (Ohio), Brown, Dartmouth and Quinnipiac. The last loss to Harvard was followed up by a seven-game unbeaten streak.

*Goaltender Eric Mihalik played the game with two goaltender masks; one was his and one belonged to Alex Evin. A rather violent collision in the second period resulted in Mihalik being knocked for a loop and losing his mask which broke slightly. Mihalik skated to the bench however the mask could not be repaired quick enough so the sophomore borrowed Alex Evin’s mask and skated back to the goal. At the next stoppage, Mihalik got his regular mask back and Alex Evin had his helmet returned.

*Austin Smith recorded his 135th career point with an assist on Joe Wilson’s goal. Smith remains in 23rd place on Colgate’s all-time scoring list.

*Since sweeping Ferris State at Ewigleben Ice Arena in Oct. 2004, the Raiders are 0-7-1 in the state of Michigan. That includes a 2005 NCAA tournament loss to Colorado College in 2005 and a tie with Lake Superior State.

*Corbin McPherson has two goals in his last two games after not scoring for one full calendar year. The Raiders are now 5-2-0 when McPherson scores a goal in his career.

*Mark Nasca pocketed his second point of the season with the primary assist on Colgate’s second goal by Spiro Goulakos. The senior tallied his first assist since Nov. 11 when the Raiders blanked Dartmouth, 4-0, at Thompson Ice Arena.

*Austin Smith entered the game with just eight penalty minutes on four minutes in 18 games. He now has 20 penalty minutes after being whistled for 12 penalty minutes on Friday night. Smith picked up a 10-minute misconduct late in the first period and then he was called for tripping off of a face off in the second period.

*The two teams did not shake hands after the game. This was by design as Colgate does not normally shake hands after the first game in a two-game series against a non-league opponent. There are handshakes in ECAC after single games and then in the playoffs, handshakes come after the series. Ferris State lined up for a handshake though by the time the line was fully formed, Colgate was mostly in the locker room. This caused a cavalcade of boos from the fans.

2011-2012 Season, Games 20/21: Colgate at Ferris State

2012-01-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

Games 20: Colgate (12-4-2, 6-2-0 ECAC) at Ferris State (11-8-1, 7-6-1 CCHA)
Dates: Fri., Jan. 6
Time: 7:05 p.m.
Site: Ewigleben Ice Arena; Big Rapids, Mich.
Radio: 93.9 FM WKXZ
Internet Broadcast: TEAMLINE (http://www.teamline.cc), 94 KXZ (http://www.wkxzfm.com)
Internet Video: http://www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com (Pay-to-watch)
Live Stats: http://www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com

Game 21: Colgate (12-4-2, 6-2-0 ECAC) at Ferris State (11-8-1, 7-6-1 CCHA)
Dates: Sat., Jan. 7
Time: 4:05 p.m.
Site: Ewigleben Ice Arena; Big Rapids, Mich.
Radio: None
Internet Broadcast: TEAMLINE (http://www.teamline.cc)
Internet Video: http://www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com
Live Stats: http://www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com

Opponent: Ferris State University
Nickname: Bulldogs
Location: Big Rapids, Mich.
Conference: Central Collegiate Hockey Association
2010-2011 Record: 18-16-5 (12-12-4 CCHA)
League Finish: Fifth of 11 teams
Playoffs: Defeated by Western Michigan, two games to one, in the CCHA Quarterfinals
2011-2012 Preseason Rank: Seventh of 11 teams (Media), Ninth of 11 teams (Coaches)

Head Coach: Bob Daniels (Michigan State 1982)
Experience: 20th season at Ferris State
Record: 319-358-75 through 20 seasons
Assistant Coaches: Drew Famulak, Mark Kaufman
**Did You Know: Both Bob Daniels and Don Vaughan are members of the NCAA Division I 300-win club. Vaughan has won 308 games in 19 seasons at Colgate while Daniels has amassed 11 more victories in 20 seasons. Both Daniels and Vaughan have been at their respective schools as the head coach since the early 1990s.

All-Time Series: 4-4-1 Tied (Nine games)
Home: 2-2-0 Tied
Road: 2-2-0 Tied
Neutral: 0-0-1 Tied

First Meeting: Colgate 4 Ferris State 1 (Dec. 10, 1999; Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.)
Last Meeting: Colgate 3 Ferris State 3 OT (Jan. 3, 2009; Gutterson Fieldhouse; Burlington, Vt.)
Last Colgate Win: Oct. 9, 2004 (Colgate 4-2; Ewigleben Ice Arena; Big Rapids, Mich.)
Last Ferris State Win: Oct. 18, 2003 (Ferris 3-1; Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.)

SERIES NOTES

*Colgate is making just its third trip to Big Rapids to meet Ferris State at Ewigleben Ice Arena. The Raiders traveled to Big Rapids in Nov. 2000 and Oct. 2004. Meanwhile Ferris State made trips to Hamilton’s Starr Rink in Dec. 1999 and Jan. 2003.

*The last meeting between the Raiders and Bulldogs came at the 2009 Catamount Cup in Burlington, Vt. It is the only neutral site meeting between the two schools. Given the 4-4-0 series tie entering into the game, it was only appropriate that the game end in a 3-3 overtime draw. Ferris State however did win the shootout to finish third in the tournament.

*Current Colgate assistant coach Jason Lefevre was the starting goaltender for the Raiders in their first trip to Big Rapids in Oct. 2000. Lefevre played in three games against the Bulldogs in his career and accumulated an 0-3 record between 1999-2000 and 2000-2001. He made at least 20 saves in all three games he played in against FSU.

*Andy McDonald played two games against Ferris in 1999-2000. He had a goal and an assist against the Bulldogs. McDonald scored in Colgate’s 4-1 win in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Chris Kunitz played in four career games against the Raiders. He did not record a point as a true freshman in 1999-2000. The following season, Kunitz registered two goals and a helper in a sweep of Colgate at Ewigleben Ice Arena.

*The Raiders are 2-0-1 against Ferris in the last three meetings between the two schools. FSU hasn’t beaten CU since Oct. 18, 2003. The Crimson and Gold hasn’t defeated Colgate in Big Rapids since 2000.

*In eight of the nine games between the Raiders and Bulldogs, the winning team has scored at least three goals.

*Colgate and Ferris State have never played an overtime game at an on-campus site. Only three of the previous nine games have been decided by one goal or less.

Last Game – Colgate 3 Ferris State 3 OT (Jan. 3, 2009; Gutterson Fieldhouse; Burlington, Vt.)
Event: 2009 Catamount Cup; University of Vermont
**Ferris State won a best-of-three shootout to claim third place in the tournament
Colgate Goals: David McIntyre (Peter Bogdanich, Austin Smith); David McIntyre (Francois Brisebois, Jason Williams); Francois Brisebois (Jason Williams, Nick St. Pierre)
Scoring By Period: Colgate 2-1-0-0, Ferris State 2-1-0-0
Shots: Colgate 35-34; Colgate 24-17 over the final two regulation periods
Power Play: Colgate 2-for-9, Ferris State 3-for-9
Goalies: Alex Evin (Colgate) 31 saves on 34 shots, Pat Nagle (Ferris) 32 saves on 35 shots

*SCORING AGAINST OPPONENT
Colgate
Austin Smith (Sr. F) 0-1-1
Alex Evin (Sr. G) 0-0-1, 2.77 GAA, .912 SV % (31/34, 65:00)

Ferris State
Derek Graham (Sr. D) 1-0-1

Ferris State– Leading Scorers (Current)
Jordie Johnston (Sr. F) 8-6-14
Travis Ouellette (Jr. F) 7-7-14
Kyle Bonis (Jr. F) 9-3-12
Chad Bilins (Sr. D) 1-11-12
Matthew Kirzinger (Jr. F) 3-8-11
Eric Alexander (Jr. F) 3-5-8
Brett Wysopal (Sr. D) 2-6-8
*Taylor Nelson (Sr. G) 7-4-0, 2.01 GAA, .927 SV %
*C.J. Motte (Fr. G) 4-4-1, 1.99 GAA, .925 SV %

Ferris State – Top Returning Players (2010-11 Numbers*)
Travis Ouelette (Jr. F) 10-11-21
Matthew Kirzinger (Jr. F) 7-9-16
Chad Billins (Sr. D) 5-11-16, Career: 106 games
Brett Wysopal (Sr. D) 2-12-14, Career: 99 games
Kyle Bonis (Jr. F) 7-6-13
Jordie Johnston (Sr. F) 6-7-13
Eric Alexander (Jr. F) 5-8-13
*Career numbers do not include numbers from this year

Ferris State – Key Losses
Zach Redmond (D) 7-13-20, Career: 141 games, 90 points
Mike Fillinger (F) 9-9-18, Career: 108 games
Mike Embach (F) 8-10-18, Career: 132 games
Scott Wietecha (D) 2-12-14, Career: 126 games
Justin Menke (F) 0-7-7, Career: 137 games
Pat Nagle (G) 18-14-5, 2.02 GAA, .923 SV %, Career: 45-42-11, 2.32 GAA, .916 SV %

Ferris State - Key Additions
C.J. Motte (G) USHL Waterloo, All-NAHL North Division (Traverse City)
Travis White (D), NAHL Traverse City, All-NAHL North Division (x3)
Justin Buzzeo (F), SJHL Humboldt, 135 points, 105 games

Connections
*Colgate’s Andy McDonald and Chris Kunitz of Ferris State won a Stanley Cup together with the National Hockey League’s Anaheim Ducks in 2006-07.

*Cory Kane of Ferris State and Colgate’s Mike Leidl were teammates in the British Columbia Hockey League with the RBC Cup champion Vernon Vipers in 2008-2009.

Fast Facts – Ferris State
*Ferris State University was founded in 1884 as the Big Rapids Industrial School. The school is now named after its founder, Woodbridge Nathaniel Ferris. Ferris was born in Tioga, N.Y. and he taught in nearby Spencer.

*The school is located in Big Rapids, Mich. which is around one hour north of Grand Rapids on the western side of the state. It is four hours from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. which is where Lake Superior State University is located.

*Ferris State primarily competes at the NCAA Division II level in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The men’s ice hockey team is the only Division I program at the school. There is no women’s hockey team.

*The hockey program was founded in 1975 and joined the CCHA as an affiliate member. The program made the move to Division I as a full-time member in 1979 and it joined the CCHA as a full-time member the same year.

*The hockey program has made just one appearance in the NCAA tournament (2002-2003). FSU won a school-record 31 games in 2002-2003 and advanced to the CCHA Super Six at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The Bulldogs made the NCAA tournament as an at-large selection and made it to the regional finals.

Loose Pucks – Ferris State
*The Bulldogs started the season 8-2-0 with sweeps of Saint Lawrence, RPI, Miami (Ohio) and Bowing Green. Since then, Ferris State is 3-6-1. The Bulldogs have not won back-to-back games since the beginning of November.

*Most recently, Ferris has dropped three games in a row including two last weekend at Vermont’s Catamount Cup. RIT shut out Ferris, 3-0, and then the host Catamounts doubled up the Bulldogs at 4-2. Ferris closed the first half of the season with a 4-1 loss at Notre Dame.

*Losing trend aside, FSU has been dominant at Ewigleben Ice Arena. In eight home games, the Crimson and Gold is 6-1-1. Ferris has outscored opponents 27-9. Ferris has recorded home sweeps of RPI and Miami (Ohio). The Bulldogs potted a three-point weekend (win, tie) against Lake Superior State and split with Western Michigan. In home wins, Ferris has allowed no more than two goals.

*The two-headed goalie monster of Taylor Nelson and C.J. Motte is among the best in the country. Nelson, a senior, usually starts on Friday and Motte, a freshman, is the man in between the pipes on Saturday. Nelson and Motte are both ranked among the top 15 nationally in goals against (1.99, 9th – Motte/2.01, 11th - Nelson) and save percentage (.927, 10th - Nelson.925, 13th - Motte).

*C.J. Motte allowed just one goal in the first three starts of his career. He earned back-to-back home shutouts over Rensselaer and Miami (Ohio).

*When scoring three or more goals, Ferris is 9-0-0. In eight of those nine games, FSU has scored at least four times. However, when scoring two or fewer goals, the Bulldogs are 2-8-1. The two low-scoring wins (both 2-0) were early in the season against RPI and Miami in back-to-back weeks.

*FSU is among the top teams in the nation of terms of scoring defense. The ‘Dawgs are fifth in the nation allowing just 2.10 goals per game. Ahead of Ferris are Merrimack, Union, Cornell and Minnesota. Colgate is eighth in scoring defense. However, the Bulldogs have allowed 11 goals in their last three games and at least four in their last five losses.

*Scoring wise, Ferris has struggled at points this season though 15 players overall have scored goals and 21 have at least one point including goaltender Taylor Nelson. FSU has been shut out four times this season. Since a 14-goal outburst over three games (11/4 – 11/11), Ferris has scored just 13 goals in the last nine games. Last weekend, the Bulldogs had just two goals, both against Vermont.

*In recent years, FSU has had a reputation as a much-penalized team. The ‘Dawgs are again among the national leaders in penalty minutes per game. FSU has been called for 375 minutes worth of penalties which averages out to 18.8 minutes per contest. Ferris is sixth in the nation in penalty minutes per game, one spot ahead of Miami (Ohio) and one spot behind Clarkson. Earlier this season, a game between Ferris and Miami accounted for 22 combined penalties, 88 penalty minutes, four five-minute majors, three game misconducts and one game disqualification.

*The Bulldogs are not a team that throws a high volume of shots on the net. Through 20 games, FSU is averaging 26.1 shots per game. The Bulldogs have not surpassed the 30-shot plateau since mid-November against Lake Superior State. Ferris tabulated 49-combined shots at last weekend’s Catamount Cup and that included just 23 against Rochester Tech.

*Offensively, Ferris State is led by senior Jordie Johnston, junior Travis Ouellette and junior Kyle Bonis. Johnston and Ouellette each have a team-high 14 points while Bonis leads the club with nine goals. Eleven Bulldogs have scored multiple goals this season.

Loose Pucks – Colgate
*The Raiders enter into the weekend on a seven-game unbeaten streak. We previously reported that this was the longest such streak since 1999-2000. That’s incorrect. The Raiders had an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) in 2002-2003. In the current unbeaten streak, Colgate is 6-0-1. Only Minnesota-Duluth (14, 11-0-3) and Northeastern (8, 7-0-1) have longer unbeaten streaks. Oh, by the way, it has been almost two months since Colgate lost a game.

*For the first time since Oct. 14, the Raiders should have a full line-up at their disposal. Both Kurtis Bartliff and Billy Rivellini have returned from injuries and Joe Wilson should also return after missing the Canisius game. The Raiders have not been at full strength in terms of healthy skaters since the Miami (Ohio) series when Bartliff went down.

*Entering into the weekend, the Raiders are in the top 10 in both national polls. Colgate sits at number seven in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 15 and at number nine in the USCHO.com Top 20. The Raiders have been ranked nationally since mid-October after splitting with Miami (Ohio). Colgate has never been higher in the USA Today poll.

*After Thursday night’s games, Colgate is tied for 13th in the PairWise rankings with Lake Superior State. The Raiders are just behind a three-way tie for 10th involving Michigan State, Western Michigan and Colorado College. CU also sits at number 13 in the KRACH rankings. That said, Colgate is listed at 39th in terms of strength of schedule.

*Breaking down Colgate’s seven-game unbeaten streak, the Raiders have outscored opponents 27-9 and have scored at least three goals in all six victories. That’s an average of 3.85 goals scored per game against 1.29 goals per game allowed. Also, CU is 25.0% on the power play over the last seven games while the penalty kill is 85.7%. It should be noted that six of the seven games in the streak have been at Starr Rink. The only road game in the stretch was on Nov. 25 at Vermont.

*Colgate has six games this season with at least two power play goals. The three against Canisius marked the second-highest total the the Raiders have tallied in 2010-211. A high of four power play goals was set at Niagara on Oct. 28.

*The state of Michigan has not been kind to the Maroon and White. All-time, Colgate is 6-16-2 in games played in the state of Michigan. These are games in Michigan and not just against Michigan schools. Colgate has not won a game in Michigan since sweeping a two-game series at Ferris State in Oct. 2004. Since then, CU has played seven games in Michigan and has gone 0-6-1. Colgate’s first game in Michigan was played in 1933 against the University of Michigan. The Raiders have played games at Michigan, Michigan State, Ferris State, Western Michigan and Lake Superior State. Two of the three Upper Peninsula schools, Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech, have never hosted Colgate.

*While Colgate’s overall penalty kill is operating at 81,5% and 85,7% in the midst of a seven-game unbeaten streak, it should be mentioned that Colgate has allowed two power play goals in two of the last three games – Saint Lawrence and Canisius. The Griffs entered into Starr Rink having scored just six power play goals in 64 chances.

*Four players have already set career highs in offensive categories this season. Austin Smith – goals (19), Chris Wagner – assists (15) and points (22), Austin Mayer – goals (7), assists (7), points (14) and Matt Firman – assists (7). Also…Colgate’s skaters have combined for 37 multi-point games this season. Incidentally Austin Smith has 35 career multi-point games.

*The Maroon and White remain second in the nation in short-handed goals. Colgate has seven short-handed goals in 18 games. Boston University leads the nation with eight short-handed goals. The Terriers also are first in the country in penalty minutes per game.

*As the calendar switched to 2012, Austin Smith was first in the country in total goals (19), total points (31), goals per game (1.06), points per game (1.72) and short-handed goals (five). He is tied for first nationally in game-winning goals (five). No other skater nationally has more than three short-handed goals or averages over a goal per contest. Smith has 134 career points and he is in 23rd place on Colgate’s all-time scoring list.

*Austin Smith leads Colgate in points over the last seven games with 16 points (9-7-16) and Chris Wagner is second with 11 points (4-7-11). Robbie Bourdon has scored four times in the last seven games.

*With a power play goal against Canisius on Dec. 30, Corbin McPherson scored his fourth career game-winning goal. McPherson has just seven goals total over six games. When McPherson scores the Raiders are 5-1-0 overall. Corbin has potted game-winning goals against Brown (09-10), Sacred Heart (10-11), Army (10-11) and Canisius (11-12). McPherson has also tallied strikes versus Robert Morris and Boston College.

*Going back to the win over Clarkson in early February, the Raiders are 20-10-3.

*Alex Evin continues to lead the country in goals against average (1.48) and save percentage (.948). Eric Mihalik, Colgate’s wins leader with eight, has also climbed in the national rankings. Mihalik is 28th in goals against average (2.48) and 38th in save percentage (.912). As a team, Colgate is eighth nationally in scoring defense (2.17).

*Scoring three goals or more: 12-1-0; Leading after two periods: 10-0-0

Game Recap: Colgate vs. Canisius (Dec. 30)

2012-01-03T12:33:00.000-08:00

Game 19: Colgate vs. Canisius
Date: Fri., Dec. 30, 2011
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: Starr Rink
Score: Colgate 5 Canisius 2
Records: Colgate 12-4-2 (6-2-0 ECAC), Canisius 4-11-3 (4-5-2 AHA)

Colgate Game Story
Canisius Game Story
Box Score

Quick Analysis
Well, it wasn’t pretty but after a three-week break, a win is a win. And really, that’s all that matters. No style points in college hockey for blowing out your opponent.

The Good
*Hey, a win is a win. And coming out of a three-week break against a so-so opponent with a large showdown with Ferris State looming, a win is all you can ask. Seriously, this was most definitely a “trap” game in more ways than Canisius simply playing a neutral zone trap. Colgate had everything to lose while it was exactly the opposite for Canisius. Credit the Raiders for managing to come out with five goals and a win. Besides, when’s the last time Colgate came out of the break with a win? (Answer later).

*Despite the general sloppiness of play in a game after a three-week break, Colgate generally controlled the play and was in control of the game outside of an early stretch in the second period and then here and there. And, outside of the 10 minutes or so that the game was tied at two, the Raiders were never really in any trouble. It seems weird saying that for a team that was just downright terrible at times last year but Colgate played like a ranked opponent against a team that it should beat. In years past, CU would’ve played down to the opposition and possibly escaped with a win if it was lucky. This year, well, when it rains it pours.

*Five goals, four different goal scorers. Everyone is getting in on the action and Austin Smith’s goal, his 19th, did not come until the third period after Colgate had already lit the lamp four times before. Robbie Bourdon, who has been slowly heating up as of late, scored twice in the first period and then Austin Mayer and Corbin McPherson each potted second period goals. For McPherson, it was his first since Dec. 30 of last year (2010) against Boston College. Players on three different lines scored and there was a goal from the blue line – that’s a recipe for success. And if the Raiders want to keep winning, it will have to continue.

*The power play has the power! Well, if you’re reading, maybe read that in a “He-Man” type of voice but we s’pose you get the idea. Three power play goals in six attempts and that included three goals on three-straight power plays; two of the goals came from the Bourdon-Wagner-Smith-Goulakos-Price unit while another came from the McPherson-K. McNamara-Mayer-Firman-Lidgett combination. Colgate now has 20 power play goals in 18 games and the power play has never looked better, at least in recent history. Colgate added a “fourth” power play strike in the third though Austin Smith’s goal on a tic-tac-toe passing play came just as a 4-on-3 expired. It was just the second time this season that Colgate has scored more than two power play goals in a game.

*When pressured by Canisius, Colgate responded. The Raiders came a little sluggish out of the locker room in the second period and two dumb penalties led to Canisius tying the game. After that, Colgate came roaring back with two-straight goals to close out the period and then the Raiders controlled the third period and tacked on a fifth score. It’s a little thing but Colgate was able to come back after taking a punch from Canisius. The Raiders did not wilt and let the game remain stagnant but instead came counter-punching right back.

*Colgate did not take a single penalty in the third period. This is important because Canisius started to ramp up the hitting in the second period when behind and then continued the tough-guy tactics (nothing goonish mind you) into the third period. Colgate didn’t respond and the Raiders just kept plodding away at Canisius trying to score more goals and put the game out of reach. Now, the Raiders could’ve been easily suckered into a “who hits harder” contest but they weren’t.

*In general, there was a strong turnout for the game – 1,388 was the announced attendance on the game box score. Considering that the students are on break, this is fantastic. Much like the Merrimack game on Dec. 11, it was a late-arriving crowd but the building filled in and a good-sized crowd of local folks took in the game. Now if they continue to show up and the students come back in full force in mid-January, we’ll be looking at great crowds for the final seven home games.

*That’s a winning non-conference record for the season. With just two non-league games left, the Raiders are 6-2-2 against non-ECAC Hockey opponents. The worst that Colgate can finish is 6-4-2. It marks the first time since 2007-2008 that Colgate has accumulated six non-league wins and a winning non-conference record.

The Bad
*Dumb penalties. We hate to be harsh here but two penalties in the opening two minutes of the second period when you’re already ahead by two goals is just plain bad. An elbowing call came in the first minute of play and not too long after that came a whistle for slashing to put Colgate down two men. Sure enough, Canisius capitalized and just like that the game was tied. Colgate also wiped away a power play in the first period with a mystifying offensive zone interference call during a battle in front of the net for positioning. Maybe the two Canisius power play goals will serve as a wake-up call, don’t take dumb penalties – a better team not only will make you pay but will keep up that momentum.

*It was a tough night for the penalty kill with just a 2-for-4 effort after entering the game 22 for its last 24. Not to mention that Canisius came into the game with just six, yes, six, power play goals in 64 attempts – essentially one of the worst power plays in the nation. You can’t really fault Colgate for the 5-on-3 goal however the Raiders had previously not allowed a 5-on-3 goal since the Miami (Ohio) series. And then Canisius was able to come back 21 seconds later and tie the game on a letdown in defense in front of the net. We’ll just chalk the rust up to the three-week lay-off and leave it at that. Besides, Austin Mayer did score Colgate’s seventh short-handed goal of the season.

This and That…
*With Friday night’s win, the Raiders closed out the 2011 calendar year with a 20-18-4 record. It’s the first time since the 2005 calendar year (2004-05, 2005-06) that Colgate has won 20 games in a single year.

*Friday night’s win was also the first for Colgate coming out of the holiday lay-off since the 2008-2009 season. Coincidentally, that season also included a three-week break for finals and the holidays. The Raiders played at home against Clarkson and St. Lawrence in early December and then returned to action with a 3-2 overtime win against Maine in late Dec. at the Florida College Classic. Each of the last two years Colgate has started the second half of the season with a loss (2009-10 Notre Dame, 2010-11 Boston College).

*Colgate’s current seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) is the longest by any Raider team since Andy McDonald was in uniform. The last time Colgate had any type of seven-game unbeaten streak was in 1999-2000. That season, the Raiders had two different seven-game unbeaten streaks. Colgate’s unbeaten string is also the third-longest active streak in the nation behind Minnesota-Duluth (11-0-3) and Northeastern (7-0-1).

*Tough Friday night for Colgate’s last non-conference opponent and next non-conference opponent. Merrimack finally started scoring but could not stop St. Lawrence from scoring in a 6-6 overtime tie at the Ledyard Bank Classic at Dartmouth while Ferris State, after losing to RIT on Thursday night, was shut down in a 4-2 loss to Vermont at the Catamount Cup.

*With two goals on Friday, Robbie Bourdon now has 29 for his career. Bourdon has 63 career points on 29 goals and 34 assists. He is tied for 107th place on Colgate’s all-time scoring list. He needs four more points to move into the top 100. His two goals on Friday helped him surpass among others on the scoring list – Nick St. Pierre, Jason Williams, Mike Campaner, Steve Poapst and Mike Milbury.

*Speaking of the scoring list, Austin Smith sits alone in 23rd place after a three-point performance with a goal and two helpers. For his career, Smith has 134 points on 62 goals and 72 assists. He is seven points behind current Adrian head coach Ron Fogarty for 22nd place. The senior also needs just 15 more points to become the highest scoring American-born skater in Colgate history.

*One more Smith note, his 31 points (19-12-31) in 18 games ties his point total (10-21-31) from all of last season. He is 10 points away from his career high of 41.

*Sophomore Eric Mihalik has now won 16 games over two seasons. He is one victory behind Alex Evin’s four-year career total of 17.

*In a six-game home unbeaten streak, Colgate has outscored opponents 23-9.The Raiders have not lost a game at Starr Rink since Oct. 29 and have not allowed more than two goals by an opponent at the building since Oct. 14 versus Miami (Ohio).

Mid-Season Report Card

2011-12-30T12:26:00.000-08:00

Our look back at the first half of the season continues with the aptly-named “Mid-Season Report Card.” The second half (or semester depending how you look at it) begins on Friday night (Dec. 30) when the Maroon and White host Canisius at Starr Rink.

Some numbers from the first half of the season
Games played: 17
Overall record: 11-4-2
ECAC Hockey record: 6-2-0
Last season record at this time: 3-12-1 (0-5-1)
*Colgate’s 11 victories in the first half equal the total number of victories from all of the 2010-2011 season; CU went 11-28-3 last year. It also should be noted that the Raiders did not lose back-to-back games nor did they have winless streak (two games w/o a win or more).

Before we get into the rest of the report card, please remember that right now it is a mid-season look. An 11-4-2 record through 17 games is nice but one cannot win the Cleary Cup, the Whitelaw Cup or even a national championship in December. The same can be said about individual accolades, as no one wins the “Hobey” in December and besides, as Alton Brown would say, that’s another show (or in this case a blog post). The start has been great for ‘Gate however the real test will be the next 17 games and keeping up the momentum built from the first half.

Goalies: A-
Last year Colgate had four goaltenders on the roster, three of which played. That number is now down to essentially two. Max Fenkell left school after one year for the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs while surgery has sidelined Bryan Bessette for the entire year. Now neither Fenkell nor Bessette were going to play a significant role in the goaltending situation though it leaves little room for error with the two backstops that are left – sophomore Eric Mihalik and senior Alex Evin. Walk-on Steve Estep, a member of the rowing team, has dressed but it’s highly doubtful he will play.

Well, the numbers crunch in net has not effected Colgate whatsoever as both Evin and Mihalik have been splendid between the pipes. Evin is off to his best start at Colgate with a 4-1-1 record, not to mention he leads the nation in goals against average (1.48) and save percentage (.948). Alex has yet to allow more than two goals in a game and he has won three-straight starts since a tough-luck defeat at the hands of Niagara on Oct. 29. In those three victories (Quinnipiac, UVM, SLU), he has allowed four total goals and he has made at least 28 saves. Not bad for someone coming off a nightmarish 3-10-1 effort in 2010-11 in which he did not play after a 5-4 loss on Jan. 9 at Princeton. Outside of actual numbers, Alex simply looks more comfortable and confident in goal and he’s making the saves that he wasn’t coming up with last season. Some mistakes that would’ve ended up in the back of the net last year are now being stopped by the senior.

Eric Mihalik remains the number one netminder and the sophomore now has 15 victories as well as a near .500 record as a starter over the last two years. Any thought that he would have a sophomore slump was quickly forgotten when he made 33 saves against Nebraska-Omaha in the title tilt of the Mutual of Omaha Stampede in October. Mihalik also backstopped the Raiders to a signature win over Miami (Ohio) on Oct. 15. He pitched his first career shutout at Dartmouth on Nov. 11 with a 30-save effort. Eric has made at least 25 saves in eight of his 11 starts and he has held the opposition to two goals or less seven times this year. The Avon Lake, Ohio, native has been the man in the crease for all of Colgate’s key games this season with starts against UNO, Miami (Ohio) x2, Yale, Clarkson and Merrimack.

Why did the goalies not receive an A or A+ considering last year’s strained numbers that included a 3.29 team goals against average and 142 total goals allowed? Critically speaking, there have been nights where another save here or there could’ve meant a win or at least a more comfortable win. Plus in some games that were wins, the opposition couldn’t throw the puck in the ocean from the beach or couldn’t get past the iron (Princeton – 4 posts). Still, overall, the goaltending has been tremendous.

Defense: B+
The success of this year’s group of blue liners can be traced back to the 2009-2010 season when the current junior class was brought in to replace a multitude of senior defensemen that were part of the Class of 2009. The elder statesmen on the 09-10 back end for the Raiders were junior Wade Poplawski and third-year sophomore Kevin McNamara – the 09-10 Colgate squad had no senior defensemen. The entire blue line returned last season and a strong defensive effort was the key to playoff upsets over RPI and Union.

The core of a group of the eight current d-men has been playing together for three and four years. What three years ago was a young and inexperienced group (led by two players coming off significant layoffs due to injury) is now a savvy and veteran unit that will return six of eight defensemen next season. But…enough about next season for now.

While there are eight total defensemen on the roster, one more than last year BTW, the regular line-up has featured six blue liners: seniors Kevin McNamara and Corbin McPherson, juniors Thomas Larkin, Jeremy Price and Nathan Sinz and freshman Spiro Goulakos. The odd men out have been junior Mike Leidl and freshman Brendan Corcoran however Leidl played key minutes earlier this season when several regulars were on the shelf with injuries. The pairings themselves among the top six have rotated around slightly depending on the night and health of certain players but generally it hasn’t mattered who is teamed up with whom.

The upperclassmen have played like upperclassmen – responsible with the puck, being strong with the puck, winning board battles in the defensive zone, not allowing the puck into the high-traffic zone and they’ve generally made good decisions. Three players here to single out for the moment – the biggest improvement we’ve seen is with junior Nathan Sinz. The Anchorage, Alaska, native struggled at times his first two years to make the line-up and when he was out there, sometimes it was an adventure and not in a good way. Now, as a third-year player, he just seems a lot more confident in his decision making. His best game as a Raider might have been a 4-0 shutout win at Dartmouth. Freshman Spiro Goulakos has been a really great surprise. Coming into the season, we figured he would see power play time (given his Jr. A numbers) and at least be in the mix for regular playing time. Goulakos has been one of Colgate’s best offensive defensemen and he has played a load of minutes for a rookie. He kind of reminds us of a Nick St. Pierre type of player though we read somewhere a comparison to current WBS Penguin Joey Mormina – both guys had great careers and went on to play pro hockey.

On the power play, the pairing of Goulakos and Price has been dynamite on the Austin Smith, Robbie Bourdon and Chris Wagner unit. Both have excelled at getting pucks to the net and quarterbacking the play from one end of the rink to the other. Price as well has had a good season when he has been healthy. There have been nights when he has been Colgate’s best defensemen on the ice. Corbin McPherson well has been Corbin McPherson. That means constantly steady, being physical when he has to, using his size and strength to take the puck away and winning lots of wall battles in the corners.

It hasn’t all been great for the blue liners. Some of the same bugaboos from last year have remained; namely bad (not as horrific at times as last year though) giveaways in the defensive zone and not being strong enough on the puck in the defensive zone. These mistakes have been masked by a strong Colgate back-checking game from the forwards and by simply great goaltending. And some nights the core coverage in the high-traffic zone hasn’t been what it was earlier in the season – for example against Princeton and Quinnipiac, the opponent both nights had numerous chances in the high-traffic zone but simply couldn’t convert. So, the opponent tally read one goal which kind of hid the fact that Colgate’s high-traffic defense wasn’t great.

Offensively speaking as well, the numbers could be slightly better in terms of goals. Thomas Larkin and Jeremy Price each have two scores and Kevin McNamara has one. Corbin McPherson and Nathan Sinz haven’t scored nor has Spiro Goulakos though the freshman from Montreal at least has nine assists. Points-wise, Price, Goulakos and Larkin are all near the top of the heap though down the stretch the Raiders will need some goals from the blue liners to buoy the offense. The defense has just accounted in terms of actual goals scored for just five. It should be noted however the Raiders have several re-direction goals on point shots, most notably Austin Mayer’s re-direction of a Corbin McPherson shot in the win over Miami (Ohio).

Forwards: A
This is pretty much a no-brainer in terms of a grade. Austin Smith leads the nation in total goals (18), points per game (1.65) and short-handed goals (five). He’s tied for the national lead in game-winning goals (five), second in goals per game (1.06) and he has 131 career points in 131 career games. Smith has already set a personal best with 18 goals and he has 17 regular season games remaining. The senior has been Colgate’s best player on the ice almost on a nightly basis even when he’s not scoring goals in bunches. And that’s not even touching Smith single-handedly getting Colgate a point against Army on Cape Cod with two third-period goals, outscoring Quinnipiac 3-1 in a 3-1 win and then accounting for four of Colgate’s seven goals in a weekend sweep of Quinnipiac and Princeton. What realistically can Smith do for an encore in the second half? It should also be noted that Smith’s all-around game (includes defense and penalty killing) are greatly improved from last year.

That said, to be critical for a moment…Smith’s play has overshadowed some of the deficiencies that Colgate has had scoring goals. Sure, three other players have six or more but Smith’s 18 tallies are one-third of Colgate’s goals. Princeton/Quinnipiac weekend, if you take out Smith’s goals, Colgate losses to Quinnipiac 1-0 and possibly defeats Princeton 2-1. Smith also had two keys goals in a league victory over Clarkson at Starr Rink; without Smith scoring there it’s a much different game.

However….Colgate is not a one-player team or a bad team with one spectacular player that is causing the team to overachieve. It has been an overall team effort – especially in the forward department. Realistically, when is the last time Colgate went through a first half with essentially four set line combinations. Colgate had the Smith-Wagner-Wilson trio along with Prockow-Mayer-Firman as the two most-steady lines. And then after that, John Lidgett and Robbie Bourdon stayed together with several different wingers because of an injury to Kurtis Bartliff. And then the fourth line saw Mike McCann center a few different combinations of wingers. But in general, the line-up has been consistent, a far cry from last year’s nightly switching – of course #winning has something to do with that.

Why is Colgate good? One reason is the play of Matt Firman, Nick Prockow and Austin Mayer. Without the emergence of this line, Colgate is definitely not sitting at number 11 in the nation heading into the second half of the season. These three played together some last year and it didn’t work out. This year has been a completely different story. The all-senior trio routinely gets the puck into the offensive zone, shoots the puck on goal, works into the high-traffic area and is sound defensively. There’s a reason that these three have started most of Colgate’s games this year. Prockow and Firman have provided the strength along the walls with the cycle and Mayer has used his speed and finishing ability to compliment the other two – not goal scorers but more bookend power forwards.

And of course there’s the play of Chris Wagner and Joe Wilson alongside Austin Smith. Wagner’s quietly having a remarkable year alongside Smith and he has already surpassed his previous career high of 19 points. Remarkably, six of the seven goals that Chris has scored have come since the start of November – Wagner had only one goal in October. Wagner provides Smith with a great running mate and the pair has proved lethal to the opposition in short-handed situations; when one gets the puck can sees a chance to rush then it’s off to the races. Wilson’s offensive numbers don’t match Smith or Wagner’s but Wilson has put together a solid season for himself without being on the power play. He’s sneaky physical and can throw a pretty hard body check when called upon. Also, his goal at Vermont was one of sheer NHL-caliber brilliance (find it on YouTube, we’re too lazy to link it).

Robbie Bourdon has been a power play sniper and the offensive-minded forward has looked at home on a power play line with Austin Smith and Chris Wagner. We feel he kind of gets lost in the shuffle behind the Smiths and the Wagners though Bourdon is a very capable scorer with over 50 points in Colgate career. He’ll benefit, as will John Lidgett, from a healthy Kurtis Barlitff. The threesome, as we’ve said, was electric in Omaha and hopefully will be able to find that chemistry again in the second half with Bartliff back in the line-up. Daniel Gentzler did an admirable job filling in for Bartliff as did Billy Rivellini before he was injured.

And on the fourth line, Mike McCann’s seen several different wings come and go. The thing with this line is that they’ve played well enough to the point where they won’t be benched in a tight game and the coaching staff should be able to roll out four lines on a fairly consistent basis. McCann and Co. make responsible plays, get the puck into the offensive zone, finish their checks and keep the mistakes to a minimum which is all anyone can ask of a “fourth-line” player.

Overall: A-
“And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up.” – Batman Begins, 2005

Last year at this time Colgate had just three victories and was in the midst of a 14-game winless streak that lasted from Dec. 11 through Feb. 4, nearly two months. While a young team struggled last year, it learned lessons the hard way and essentially learned to pick itself back up. The pick-up was in the form of Colgate making a run in February and then dashing to Atlantic City with playoff upsets of RPI and Union. And the lessons learned last year during the down times have served to help a team with 21 returning players go from the cellar to the penthouse in one year’s time.

Why is Colgate winning? Great goaltending, a solid defense that limits mistakes, high volume scoring from many sources including one super scorer, very good special teams and just in general, a refusal to lose. Last year, when the opposition took a lead, that usually signaled the beginning of the end for Colgate. Mistakes would compound and end up in the back of the net or the team would go into a slight shell and not be able to dig back out.

This year, no lead, no problem. Colgate has trailed at the end of a period only a handful of times this year. Mid-period deficits have been washed away and an opposition goal light going on is just merely taken in stride and the Raiders continue to fight.

The second half will be both mentally and physically taxing as Colgate begins play on Dec. 30 and will not have another weekend off until the season is completed. Beginning in January, Colgate will play two games per weekend for at least eight-straight weekends leading up to the ECAC Hockey playoffs. The good news…Colgate will not travel outside of upstate New York after Jan. 14 (for the rest of the RS) and nationally-ranked opponents Union, Cornell and un-ranked Yale all still have to visit Starr Rink.

2011-2012 Season, Game 19: Colgate vs. Canisius

2011-12-30T09:23:00.000-08:00

Game 19: Colgate (11-4-1, 6-2-0 ECAC) vs. Canisius (4-10-3, 4-5-2 Atlantic Hockey)
Dates: Fri., Dec. 30, 2011
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.
Radio: 93.9 FM WKXZ
Internet Broadcast: TEAMLINE (http://www.teamline.cc), 94 KXZ (http://www.wkxzfm.com)
Internet Video: http://www.gocolgateraiders.com/showcase
Live Stats: http://www.gocolgateraiders.com

Opponent: Canisius College
Nickname: Golden Griffins
Location: Buffalo, N.Y.
Conference: Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA)
2010-2011 Record: 13-19-6 (10-12-5 AHA)
League Finish: Eighth of 12 teams in Atlantic Hockey
Playoffs: Defeated Niagara, 6-3, in the first round of the AHA playoffs and then fell to Holy Cross, two games to one, in the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals.
2011-2012 Preseason Rank: Ninth of 12 teams

Head Coach: Dave Smith (Ohio State 1992)
Experience: Seventh season at Canisius
Record: 79-126-31 through seven seasons
Assistant Coaches: B.J. Adams, John Daigneau and David Smith
**Did You Know: Dave Smith worked as an assistant coach at Miami University under Enrico Blasi. Smith spent two years in Oxford; his second season was Blasi’s first (1999-2000). Smith left Miami (Ohio) after two seasons and went on to work at Bowling Green and Mercyhurst before taking over at Canisius in 2005.

All-Time Series: 4-1-0 Colgate (Five games)
Home: 4-0-0 Colgate
Road: 1-0-0 Canisius
Neutral: N/A

First Meeting: Colgate 9 Canisius 1 (Nov. 3, 1987; Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.)
Last Meeting: Canisius 7 Colgate 6 OT (Dec. 20, 2009; Buffalo State Ice Arena; Buffalo, N.Y.)
Last Colgate Win: Oct. 24, 2006 (Colgate 9-0; Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.)
Last Canisius Win: Dec. 20, 2009 (Canisius 7-6 OT; Buffalo State Ice Arena; Buffalo, N.Y.)

SERIES NOTES
*Friday night will mark the fourth meeting between the Raiders and the Griffs in the last 10 years. It will be the first game between the two schools since 2009. The home team has never lost in the series.

*Colgate and Canisius played two games in the late 1980s (1987, 1988) and then did not meet again for another 14 years – 2002. At the time of the first two games, Canisius was playing as a member of Division III.

*All but one game in the all-time series has been played at Starr Rink. Colgate has visited Canisius at the Buffalo State Ice Arena just once and that was in 2009.

*The Raiders have outscored the Golden Griffins 45-11 in five all-time meetings. Colgate has scored at least six goals in all five games with a high of 14 in a 14-1 romp over Canisius on Nov. 1, 1988. Prior to a 7-6 Canisius victory in 2009, the Griffs had not scored more than two goals in a single game against Colgate.

*In the last two meetings combined, Colgate has scored 10 power play goals.

*Canisius is making its first trip to Starr Rink since the 2006-2007 season. On Oct. 24, 2006, Colgate scored a school-record six power play goals in a 9-0 thrashing of Canisius. The game featured 32-combined power plays, 16 for each team. Referee Frank Murphy (this was before the two-referee system) called a total of 35 penalties for 70 penalty minutes. Twenty-six (that’s correct) penalties were called over the final two periods. The game shockingly just lasted two hours and 15 minutes.

Last Game – Canisius 7 Colgate 6 OT – (Dec. 20, 2009; Buffalo State Ice Arena; Buffalo, N.Y.)
Colgate Goals: Jeremy Price (Matt Firman, Brian Day), Francois Brisebois (Robbie Bourdon, Thomas Larkin), Matt Firman (Wade Poplawski, Austin Smith), Jeremy Price (Austin Smith, Brian Day), Matt Firman (Austin Smith, Brian Day),
Scoring By Period: Colgate 1-2-3-0, Canisius 2-1-3-1
Shots: Colgate 31-23, Colgate 16-4 in the third period
Power Play: Colgate 4-for-6, Canisius 0-for-5
Goalies: Bryan Bessette (Colgate) 16 saves on 23 shots, Dan Morrison (Canisius) 25 saves on 31 shots

*SCORING AGAINST OPPONENT
Colgate
Austin Smith (Sr. F) 0-4-4
Matt Firman (Sr. F) 2-1-3
Jeremy Price (Jr. D) 2-0-2
Corbin McPherson (Sr. D) 0-1-1
Thomas Larkin (Jr. D) 0-1-1
Robbie Bourdon (Jr. F) 0-1-1
Bryan Bessette (Sr. G) 0-1-0, 6.62 GAA, .696 SV % (16/23, 63:47)

Canisius
Scott Moser (Sr. F) 0-2-2
Preston Shupe (Jr. F) 0-1-1
Torrey Lindsay (Jr. F) 0-1-1
Dan Morrison (Sr. G) 1-0-0, 5.62 GAA, .806 SV % (25/31, 64:02)

Canisius – Leading Scorers (Current)
Kyle Gibbons (So. F) 6-9-15
Taylor Law (So. F) 5-7-12
Ben Danford (So. D) 1-6-7
Torrey Lindsay (Jr. F) 3-2-5
Preston Shupe (Jr. F) 2-3-5
Scott Moser (Sr. F) 3-1-4
Matthew Grazen (Fr. F) 2-2-4
*Dan Morrison (Sr. G) 2-6-1, 2.67, .917 SV %
*Tony Capobianco (So. G) 2-4-2, 2.82 GAA, .925 SV %

Canisius – Top Returning Players (2010-11 Numbers*)
Ben Danford (So. D) 2-24-26
Preston Shupe (Jr. F) 10-14-24
Kyle Gibbons (So. F) 10-13-23
Scott Moser (Sr. F) 9-12-21, Career: 98 games
Torrey Lindsay (Jr. F) 3-11-14
Dan Morrison (Sr. G) 10-16-4, 3.57 GAA, .904 SV %, Career: 28-36-9, 3.28 GAA, .905 SV %

Canisius – Key Losses
Corey Conacher (F) 23-19-42, Career: 147 points, 129 games
Vincent Scarsella (F) 14-21-35, Career: 133 points, 144 games
Eric Rex (F) 9-18-27, Career: 103 games
Phil Rauch (D) 1-6-7, Career: 132 games
Chris Forsman (D) 4-3-7, Career: 111 games
Scott Jenks (D) 3-3-6, Career: 117 games
Pat Kenney (F) 1-2-3, Career: 111 games

Canisius - Key Additions
Mitch McCrank (F) 2011 GOJHL Rookie of the Year, GOJHL Stratford
Doug Jessey (D) 2011 MJAHL Top Defenseman
Cody Freeman (F) NAHL All-Star
Logan Roe (D) All-New England, Kent School
Stephen Farrell (D) 2010-2011 RBC Cup champion with CJHL Pembroke
Carl Larsson (F) Super Elit Sweden Linkoping

Connections
*Colgate’s Jeremy Price and Cody Freeman of Canisius were teammates on the Central Junior Hockey League’s Nepean Raiders in 2008-2009.

*Kyle Gibbons of Canisius and Colgate’s Eric Mihalik, both of Ohio, were teammates on the Cleveland Jr. Barons 16U team. Gibbons is from Westlake which is around a 20-minute drive from Mihalik’s Avon.

Loose Pucks – Canisius
*The Golden Griffins are coming off of a 19-day break. Canisius last played on Dec. 12 at Robert Morris and the Griffs were dealt a 2-1 loss by the Colonials at the Island Sports Complex.

*Friday night marks the final non-conference game of the season for Canisius. The rest of the schedule for the Buffalo, N.Y., school is comprised of games against Atlantic Hockey competition. The Griffs are 0-5-1 against non-AHA opponents this season. The 2006-07 season was the last time Canisius went winless in non-conference play. Overall, the school has not won a non-conference game since the 2010-2011 season opener against Western Michigan.

*All-time, Canisius has just two victories over ECAC Hockey schools, Clarkson (2008-09) and Colgate (2009-10). Against nationally-ranked teams, Canisius has three victories and an overall record against ranked opponents of 3-17-2.

*While Colgate enters on a six-game unbeaten streak, Canisius comes into Starr Rink on a four-game losing streak that includes losses to Holy Cross (x2), Mercyhurst and Robert Morris.

*Why are the Griffs 4-10-3? Well, Canisius is averaging 1.65 goals per game and the Griffs have scored only 28 times in 17 tilts. Special teams have also been poor – Canisius is 6-for-64 (9.4%) on the power play and 64-for-85 (75.3%) on the penalty kill. Both special teams units are ranked among the bottom 10 in the country.

*Canisius is a Roman Catholic institution and some nights, the Griffs have treated shooting the puck as if it’s a sin. Overall, Canisius is averaging 22.8 shots per game. The Golden Griffins have had two games this season with fewer than 10 shots and they have been held below 20 shots already six times this season. In non-conference road games, Canisius had 23 combined shots in two contests at Quinnipiac and 20 combined shots in a two-game series at Bowling Green. Their season low for shots on goal in a game is eight which came at Bowling Green.

*Surprisingly, Canisius is not that bad defensively. The Griffs are allowing just 2.88 goals per game and senior backstop Dan Morrison is, statistically speaking, having one of the best seasons of his career as a four-year starter. Morrison and running mate Tony Capobianco have a combined .918 save percentage which is .004 higher than the school single-season record (.914).

*Nationally speaking, Canisius is tied with Ohio State and Mercyhurst for having the most freshmen on a roster. Overall, the Griffs have 20 total underclassmen and just six upperclassmen.

*While Canisius isn’t nationally known, the Golden Griffs have been very willing to play anyone. Earlier this season, Canisius hosted nationally-ranked Lake Superior State for a two-game series. Last year, Canisius traveled to Western Michigan, Wisconsin and Notre Dame.

*Although Canisius is a Division I hockey program, the Griffs do not have an on-campus ice arena. The school, located in Buffalo, N.Y., plays its home games at the Buffalo State Ice Arena on the campus of Buffalo State College which is part of the SUNY system. However, in the fall, there were rumors that Canisius and the Buffalo Sabres would combine to build a new rink on the Canisius campus however those plans are still in the early stages.

*Canisius is a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for all other sports. The school did have football, at the Division III level, however it was dropped in 2002.

Loose Pucks – Colgate
*It’s time for the second half of the season….ready or not, here we go!

*The Raiders are coming off of their longest lay-off, nearly three weeks, since the 2008-2009 season. That year, Colgate had a 21-day break in between games. The Raiders hosted the North Country schools on Dec. 5 and 6 and then did not play against until the Florida College Classic against Maine on Dec. 27.

*Colgate’s six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1) is tied for the third-longest in the country. Only Minnesota-Duluth (14 games, 11-0-3) and Robert Morris (8 games, 6-0-2) have longer unbeaten streaks.

*The Hamiltonians can notch their 20th victory of 2011 with a win over Canisius on Friday. In the 2011 calendar year, Colgate is 19-18-4. The Raiders have not won 20 games in a year since 2005 and that was also the last time CU finished with a calendar year with a winning record.

*In the national polls…USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine – 11, USCHO.com – 12. Following Thursday night’s games, Colgate stands at no. 15 in the PairWise rankings though at one point on Thursday night, Colgate jumped up to no. 11. In the national statistics, Colgate’s winning percentage (.706) is among the top five and the Raiders’ 11 wins are just three fewer than Minnesota. The Golden Gophers are first nationally (in the win department) with 14 triumphs.

*A bit of a head-scratcher yesterday at the Catamount Cup in Vermont as nationally-ranked Ferris State, next week’s opponent, was blanked, 3-0, by RIT. Meanwhile, ECAC Hockey had a nightmarish Thursday as Cornell, RPI and Clarkson all lost by three goals or more to Hockey East opponents.

*On this date, Dec. 30, last year, Colgate fell to Boston College, 6-5, in the first round of the Ledyard Bank Tournament at Dartmouth College. The Raiders, fighting a big bout of the flu, sprinted out to a 3-1 lead but could not hold on against the high-flying Eagles. Incidentally, this was also the last game that senior Corbin McPherson scored in.

*Starr Rink has been Home Sweet Home for the Raiders since the start of November. CU is riding a five-game home unbeaten streak (4-0-1) after a 1-1 OT tie with Merrimack on Dec. 11. The Raiders have outscored opponents 18-7 in that stretch. Against ECAC Hockey opponents, that number is 17-6. No opponent has scored more than two goals in a game while the Raiders have lit the lamp at least three times in all but one of the five contests.

*Should senior Austin Mayer play against Canisius on Friday night, it would be his 100th career game. Mayer spent two seasons at Providence College before transferring to Colgate. He sat out 2009-2010 and he is currently in his second year as a Raider. Senior tri-captain Kevin McNamara is the current team leader with 135 career games – he’s on pace to finish in the top three at Colgate in all-time games played. Outside of missing all of 2008-09, Kevin has been scratched just twice in his career.

*One other quick games played note, the next time senior Mark Nasca suits up, it will be his 50th game in a Raider uniform.

*CU is 2-1-1 against Atlantic Hockey this season. The Raiders have wins over Robert Morris and Niagara, a tie with Army and a loss to Niagara. Remember, Colgate has beaten at least one team from every Division I conference (HEA, AHA, ECAC, CCHA, WCHA) this season.

*The 1-0 deficit to Merrimack after the first period on Dec. 11 marked the first time this season that Colgate has trailed at Starr Rink at the end of 20 minutes.

*In Colgate’s current six-game unbeaten streak, the Raiders are 22-for-24 (91.7%) on the penalty kill. Saint Lawrence is the only team to score a power play goal against Colgate in that time – in fact, SLU’s Jacob Drewiske scored two power play goals.

*So that Austin Smith fellow is pretty good. Smith enters the second half as the national leader in overall goals (18), points per game (1.65) and short-handed goals (five). He is also tied for the national lead in game-winning goals (five) and he is second in goals per game (1.06) and total points (28).In addition, Smith is averaging one point per game in his career with 131 points in 131 games.

*On the all-time scoring list, Smith is tied with former line mate David McIntyre for 24th place. Smith can pass McIntyre with a point against Canisius. One slot about McIntyre in 23rd place is Joey Cyr ’77 with 133 career points. After Cyr, there is a considerable gap in points to Ron Fogarty ’95 who is in 22nd place with 141 points.

*When Chris Wagner does not dress, Colgate is winless. Wagner did not play against Brown at home last season and the Raiders were defeated 5-2 by the Bears. Wagner did not play versus Merrimack on Dec. 11 and Colgate skated to a 1-1 overtime tie with the Warriors.

#OccupyStarrRink
#AustinSmithForHobey
#AustinSmithsMoustache
#FreeChrisWagner

2012-2013 ECAC Schedule

2011-12-30T08:02:00.000-08:00

As per the message board at ELynah (poster JimHyla), here is Colgate’s 2012-2013 ECAC Hockey schedule minus the two-game series with Cornell. Of course this is subject to change but it’s what we have right now.

Nov. 9 – at Quinnipiac
Nov. 10 – at Princeton
Nov. 16 – vs. Dartmouth
Nov. 17 – vs. Harvard
Nov. 30 – vs. St. Lawrence
Dec. 1 – vs. Clarkson
Jan. 18 – at RPI
Jan. 19 – at Union
Jan. 25 – vs. Brown
Jan. 26 – vs. Yale
Feb. 1 – at Clarkson
Feb. 2 – at St. Lawrence
Feb. 8 – vs. Princeton
Feb. 9 – vs. Quinnipiac
Feb. 15 – at Harvard
Feb. 16 – at Dartmouth
Feb. 22 – vs. Union
Feb. 23 – vs. RPI (Senior Night)
Mar. 1 – at Yale
Mar. 2 – at Brown

Some quick notes on the league schedule…
*The home-and-home series with Cornell cannot be played on a back-to-back weekend in January unless it is scheduled for Jan. 4-5 or Jan. 11-12. We suspect both Colgate and Cornell have out-of-conference games lined up for those dates plus one would guess neither school wants to play these games during winter break, when students are away. This would either push the series into the first half of the season or necessitate splitting the games up onto random Tuesday’s.

*Four of Colgate’s five road trips in the league will come in the second half of the season and two of the longest trips (Dartmouth/Harvard, Yale/Brown) are in the final three weeks of the season.

Revisiting Five Burning Questions for 2011-2012

2011-12-27T09:08:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to one and all. Now that the presents have been opened, the turkey has been eaten and your wallet has been significantly lightened, it’s time to get back to hockey.

When we last left Starr Rink, the Raiders were coming off of a hard-fought 1-1 overtime with fifth-nationally ranked Merrimack. Colgate completed the first half of the regular season with an overall record of 11-4-2 and a league record of 6-2-0. The final national polls prior to the holidays listed the Hamiltonians in the top 15 nationally, 12th according to USCHO.com and 11th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Coaches poll. (Editors’ Note: Colgate was ranked 10th after tying with Merrimack but dropped down one slot after Merrimack lost at home to Union on Dec. 17).

Over the next several weeks, the Raiders will complete their non-conference schedule and move back into ECAC Hockey play. Up first for Colgate will be the 2011 calendar year home finale against Canisius (Dec. 30) and then comes a crucial two-game road trip to Ferris State. But, we’ll have more on the Canisius and the Ferris State series later. And we’ll talk about all of the first-half accomplishments in our mid-season report card which will be running later in the week. Right now, we look back to five burning questions that we asked prior to the start of the season on Oct. 7 against Robert Morris.

1 – Will the real Raiders please stand up?

What we wrote…

So, who were the Colgate Raiders of 2010-2011? The team that at one point in the regular season had a record of 3-22-2 (0-13-2) and was among the worst in the nation statistically speaking or the team that knocked off RPI and Union in the ECAC playoffs and advanced on to Atlantic City? The answer to that question should come this year with 21 players back and just three seniors lost – Brian Day, Francois Brisebois and Wade Poplawski. While the Raider leadership group will be missed, the core of the squad from last year is back and now comprises 17 juniors and seniors.

Was the team as bad as its’ record indicated last year? Yes and no. There was certainly bad hockey being played at times but even in the worst stretches there would be flashes of better play. The problem was just consistency and really, the team was most consistent at being inconsistent. That has to improve this season or we’ll know the answer to this question sooner rather than later.

We’ll be honest; we definitely did not see this coming. That is, we thought that maybe a winning mark in the first half of the season and a respectable record were possible, perhaps, but nowhere did we anticipate anything along the lines of 11-4-2 and a consistent national ranking bordering on the top 10. Given that this year’s outfit includes 21 players back from last season, one could say that the Maroon and White were simply the “Not Ready for Prime Time” players in 2010-2011; that is, the talent was there but it took a while for every piece of the puzzle to fall into the right place. Since the switch was flipped against Clarkson on Feb. 5, the Raiders have gone 19-10-2.

Also responsible for the turnaround is the improved play of certain individuals that underachieved last season; some of which did not play to their full potential until the stretch run. Why that happened? Who really knows? It seems now that the team is on the right track that the problems can be traced to a perfect storm of players underachieving, mistakes ending up in the back of the net, overall inconsistency and at times a lack of cohesion on the ice. When those problems were ironed out, the team finally realized its potential and made its run in February and March.

And that run set the stage for this season with those 21 returning players. We will say that an August excursion to Europe (Italy, Switzerland) and all of the extra practice time that the trip afforded have also been a big help. Another big asset for the Raiders has been consistency – in that the team is constantly winning battles, making smart plays, getting the puck on goal, not turning the puck over in the defensive zone etc. And when mistakes have happened or the team has gotten behind, it hasn’t worried or started to slide down the slippery slope which was a plague last season That comes with both experience and maturity of 17 juniors and seniors that have gone from 19 overtime games in a season to a fourth place finish in 2009-2010 to the darkest point of a 3-22-2 record in 2010-11.

2 – Who will be in goal?

What we wrote…

The easy answer is fairly simple, whoever can stop the puck. Sophomore Eric Mihalik enters into the season as the probable number one backstop after buoying the Raiders to ECAC playoff upsets over RPI and Union just seven months ago. Mihalik’s final numbers weren’t outstanding (8-15-2, 2.92 GAA, .903 SV %) however he finished the season 8-6-1 over his final 15 games. No other Raider even played in goal after Colgate’s appearance on ESPNU against Princeton on Jan. 9; Mihalik started the home game against Union on Jan. 14 and never looked back.

The Raiders certainly have a capable back-up in Alex Evin. The senior shined two years ago as a sophomore when he won the starting job from Charles Long and went on to backstop the Raiders to a fourth-place finish in ECAC Hockey. Last season Evin struggled though he has shown that he can be a number one goaltender. If one looks at Alex’s numbers from his junior hockey days in the British Columbia Hockey League, they improve each year. And his best numbers come from his final BCHL campaign with Penticton when he won the BCHL Top Goaltender Award and the Vees grabbed the league championship (team also included Austin Smith). In that case, Evin saved his best for last. Will that be the case this year?

Both of those things said, the last two goaltenders AD (After Dekanich) haven’t managed to make it through a full season as the full-time starter, whether it Charles Long or Alex Evin. Eric Mihalik played well down the stretch last year but he’ll have to be careful to combat complacency and a sophomore slump.

The combination of a senior surge from fourth-year backstop Alex Evin and the lack of a sophomore slump from Eric Mihalik have the Raiders sitting among the top defensive teams in the nation. Mihalik has been the de facto “number one goaltender” throughout the season and he leads the team in victories and playing time though Evin has an edge in the overall numbers department but with five fewer games played. The decision for head coach Don Vaughan of who to play in goal is a much easier one now than it was at the start of the season because both goaltenders have been outstanding. It’s a good problem to have and we can almost liken to the platoon-style system used by Enrico Blasi at Miami (Ohio) with Cody Reichard and Connor Knapp.

Despite Evin’s edge in the numbers department and the fact that he is the national Division I leader in goals against average and save percentage, there is no goaltending controversy here. Mihalik has been the man between the pipes for the majority (almost 2/3) of Colgate’s games and that includes major non-league victories over Nebraska-Omaha, Miami (Ohio) and a tie with Merrimack. Now, if Alex Evin’s tremendous effort in goal continues, he’ll certainly make a statement for more playing time. But, as we said, with two goaltenders playing well, it’s not a bad problem to have.

3 – Can the team by physical?

What we wrote…

One of the biggest problems for the Raiders last year was physicality and tenacity. The team didn’t seem to want to play bang and crash hockey and at times it lacked the real grit and sandpaper attitude that was so prevalent in the Class of 2010 (McIntyre, Cox, Williams, Corrin, etc). Physical teams like Yale drew out the Raiders checking game but it wasn’t something that Colgate constantly relied on – banging and crashing. Some of the players seemed more content to try and play a flashy and high-flying style that doesn’t necessarily work well against physical teams.

And this isn’t just about checking either, it’s about winning board battles, going into the corners and just playing a physical game – one in which you won’t be out-muscled for the puck. When Colgate was struggling last year, the team simply wasn’t being physical enough (not in all cases but it was something that stuck out). Now, when the Raiders turned their season around, some players who weren’t being physical started winning more battles and the intensity and checking picked up.

To win, the Raiders are going to need to have players go into the corners, win puck battles and be physical. Nick Prockow is a prime example of someone who stepped up his game in the final month of the season and really came into his own in the playoffs – not because he scored a lot but because he started asserting himself more and becoming the power forward we imagine the coaches thought he could be when they recruited him.

The biggest thing to realize here is that this is not a Colgate team from the last decade, a squad that would play bang-and-crash hockey and at one time had 93 hits in a game against Yale. But like we said, being physical isn’t all about hitting anything that moves (that’s Mark Nasca’s job) but about winning puck battles along the boards, going into the corners and coming out with the biscuit, maintaining puck possession, being able to establish a down-low cycle and throwing the body when need be. Now, if being physical was simply body checking and not anything else, then the answer to this question would be not really. Now the Raiders do have a body checking game and hard hits have been delivered (see Wagner, Chris; Wilson, Joe and Nasca, Mark) but it’s been more about picking the right spot to deliver a big hit.

In the grit and sandpaper department, which was really lacking at times last year, along with the other areas mentioned above, the Raiders have certainly done their job. The line of Nick Prockow, Austin Mayer and Matt Firman has consistently gotten the puck deep into the offensive zone, cycled, maintained possession and generated offensive chances. The same can be said for the Austin Smith, Chris Wagner and Joe Wilson line. And while the Raiders may have been out-hit in some games, that hasn’t stopped them from having a presence along the wall, winning puck battles and getting the puck down low.

4 – Will the special teams be special?

What we wrote…

The biggest bugaboo for the Raiders over the last several years has been special teams, whether it be the power play or the penalty kill. Colgate ended last season with the second-worst combined special teams in the country, 57 out of 58 Division I hockey-playing schools. The discrepancy between the number of Colgate’s power play goals and opponent power play goals was -15, a number that most certainly has to improve.

For the penalty kill, keep in mind that Colgate lost three of four regular penalty killers from 2009-2010 when David McIntyre, Ethan Cox and Jason Williams graduated so you had last year three brand-new penalty killers along with Brian Day at the short-handed forward position. And there were some growing pains with that group. Also, players that ended up in that group were also forwards on the power play and in even strength so they were playing a decent amount of heavy minutes; Cox and Williams weren’t necessarily power play guys. The penalty kill has to be better and it had a good chance to work out some kinks in the exhibition with Carelton – the Ravens were held to a 1-for-12 mark. Going along with this, if the PK doesn’t improve, then the team has to learn to stay out of the penalty box.

The power play is the power play. When this unit has been good, so have the Raiders. Look at 2009-2010; Colgate’s power play wasn’t great but good enough at 18.7% with 34 power play goals. And that was a unit that started out 7-for-60 through its’ first 11 games. The same struggle began last year 5-for-47 (10.6%) through eight games and the unit ended up with a 13.7% conversion rate – not awful but not good either. We think the power play should be much improved this season both because of the increased maturity of the players on it (forwards that are now juniors/seniors) and because of the new additions (Wilson, Lidgett, Goulakos).

Well, the answer to this question is easy – YES. And we do mean to put that in all capital letters. One of the biggest turnarounds has been in the special teams department where Colgate is scoring power play goals (four in one game) on a consistent basis and not allowing the opposition to score in those same situations. Through 17 games, CU is averaging one power play goal per game and the Raiders are on pace to surpass their 34 power play scores of 2009-10. Eight different skaters have scored power play goals led by Austin Mayer’s four. The Russian style of two separate five-man units (as opposed being interchangeable with forwards/def. pairings) has really worked out well with each group contributing which makes it tougher for opposing penalty killers because they can’t load up against just one group.

Colgate’s 19.1% on the power play is tied with Michigan State for 26th nationally. The Raiders are also one of seven teams that have not allowed a short-handed goal.

The penalty kill has been the biggest surprise. A more hyperactive and aggressive penalty kill system was installed over the summer (in Europe) and it has paid dividends right away in the form of six short-handed goals and an 83.1% penalty kill conversion rate. Austin Smith has five of those six short-handers and his PK line mate, Chris Wagner, has the other. That said, it’s not all about Smith and Wagner. Many different players have shuttled through on the penalty kill though Smith and Wagner have had their part in a regular shift. And that has really been the key, getting fresh legs and different faces out on the ice killing penalties as opposed to the usual suspects like in years past when some players would be pushed to the limit with heavy minutes between even strength, power play and penalty kill. Nearly every forward has had at least a few looks short-handed. That will help keep legs fresh as a game goes along and most importantly as the season progresses.

5 – Who’s going to score goals?

What we wrote…

While officially the team loses just three players from last year, those three accounted for over 26% of Colgate’s goals. Keep in mind Brian Day, while just a 10-goal scorer last year had 21 as a junior. So the onus will fall on everyone, specifically Colgate’s top-tier scorers (Smith, Bourdon, Bartliff, Wagner) depending on what kind of contributions come from secondary scoring (defense, third/fourth line). Austin Smith recorded only 10 goals last season after combining to post 33 in his first two collegiate campaigns. Robbie Bourdon is the top returning goal scorer; Bourdon notched 13 a season ago though went through a mid-season lull after a hot start. He also scored the second-biggest goal of the season with his series-winning tally at RPI in double overtime of Game 3. Kurtis Bartliff had a breakout year after a tough freshman season. Bartliff only lit the lamp seven times last year – twice in a home win over Clarkson – though he doled out 21 assists which tied Austin Smith for first on the team. Chris Wagner had a tremendous finish to the season and picked up six playoff points – doing most of his damage in the Union series on a line with Robbie Bourdon and Austin Mayer. Wagner should be able to transition strongly into his sophomore season though he’ll need to be most consistent; like other high scorers before him, he went through a lengthly lull goal-scoring wise as a rookie.

Outside of the top four, Colgate has to get production from secondary sources – guys like Nick Prockow, Matt Firman, Austin Mayer, Joe Wilson, John Lidgett, etc. That will take the pressure off the top four forwards to score goals on a regular basis. The team will certainly need a few go-to scorers though the more spread out the scoring is, the better.

Austin Smith has had a dynamic senior season and his 18 goals are already a career high. And while Smith has been a key cog in the Raiders success, he’s not the sole contributor. In terms of front-line scoring, Colgate has four skaters with at least six goals – Smith, Chris Wagner, Austin Mayer and Robbie Bourdon. Outside of those four, 10 other players have potted at least one goal. And the top four scorers encompass three lines though three of the four are on the same power play unit.

Keep in mind as well that different players have stepped up on different nights – for example, while Joe Wilson and Matt Firman each have three goals, both have made major contributions. Wilson has two game-winners while Firman helped CU pull away from Vermont with two goals against the Cats on Nov. 25. Kurtis Bartliff has scored just two goals but that said, he played in only four games and missed most of the first half of the season. We anticipate a strong second half from the Robbie Bourdon, John Lidgett and Kurtis Bartliff line. The trio was electric in Omaha yet did not play together after the first game against Miami (Ohio).

Cornwall to Colgate Pipeline Continues

2011-12-14T14:22:00.000-08:00

Chris Heisenberg and the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder are reporting that forward Kyle Baun has committed to Colgate University for the 2012-2013 college hockey season. Baun is a forward with the Central Canada Hockey League’s Cornwall Colts. He is one of four Colgate commits on Cornwall’s roster along with Tyson and Tylor Spink and Michael Borkowski.

Kyle Baun is a 6-foot-1, 196-pound skater from Scarborough, Ont. (located in Toronto) with a 1992 birth year. He is currently in his third full season of Junior A hockey and second with the Colts. Through 13 games this year, Kyle has 20 points on 10 goals and 10 assists. Baun missed most of November with a shoulder injury suffered in late October however since returning he has at least one point in six-straight games. His point streak includes back-to-back games of three points in road games against Smiths Falls and Kemptville on Dec. 9 and 12. Kyle’s 20 points ranks him sixth on the team despite having played only 13 games.

The 19-year-old is described on the web site of the Cornwall Colts as a “power forward.” He is also one of two Cornwall players to wear a “C” this season. Tyson and Tylor Spink are assistant captains for the Colts.

Baun made his Cornwall debut last season after spending his first full Junior A season with the CCHL’s Toronto Jr. Canadians. Kyle skated in 56 games for the powerhouse Colts and he put together 42 points on 19 goals and 23 assists. He finished sixth on the team in points and added 44 penalty minutes. Baun elevated his game in the postseason with seven playoff goals in 16 playoff contests. Kyle’s seven playoff tallies ranked him third on the team behind Tyson Spink and current RPI skater Jacob Laliberte.

In addition to skating with Cornwall in 2010-2011, the Scarborough, Ont., native suited up for Team Canada East at the 2010 World Junior A Challenge. Baun appeared in all five games for Canada East and posted one point. Canada East advanced to the championship game of the tournament and finished with a Silver Medal. Baun was invited to the 2011 Canada East try out however a shoulder injury prevented him from participating.

Baun made his Junior A debut as a 16-year-old with the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Toronto Jr. Canadians in 2008-2009. As an affiliated player call-up, he pocketed a point in his first OJHL game on an assist in an 8-5 win over the St. Michael’s Buzzers on Jan. 2, 2009. Kyle appeared in just two games for Toronto and then he joined the roster on a full-time basis in 2009-2010. In his only full season with the Junior Canadians, Baun registered 15 points on five goals and 10 assists. He scored two game-winning goals and carved out an even plus/minus rating.

Baun is also a product of the Toronto Titans midget program.

Kyle’s grandfather, Bobby Baun, played in the National Hockey League for 17 seasons between 1956 and 1972. He won four Stanley Cups (1962, 1963, 1964, 1967) with the Toronto Maple Leafs and he was part of two Memorial Cup champions as an amateur. Bobby Baun is best known for scoring the overtime game-winning goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 6 of the 1964 Stanley Cup finals (on a broken leg) against the Detroit Red Wings. The elder Baun played professionally for the Maple Leafs (14 seasons), Oakland Seals and Detroit Red Wings. His head coach with the Red Wings was former Cornell (and later RPI) head coach Ned Harkness.

Game Recap: Colgate vs. Merrimack

2011-12-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

Game 18: Colgate vs. Merrimack
Dates: Sat.., Dec. 10, 2011
Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.
Score: Colgate 1 Merrimack 1 (OT)
Records: Colgate 11-4-2 (6-2-0 ECAC), Merrimack 10-2-2 (7-2-1 Hockey East)

Colgate Game Story
Merrimack Game Story
Video Interviews (Jason Klump)
Box Score

Quick Analysis
This was a great college hockey game between two very good teams. The only downside of Saturday night’s affair was that both teams were not at full strength because of injuries and a suspension.

The Good
*At the midway point of the regular season, Colgate has a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1) and an 11-4-2 record. The Raiders have certainly exceeded expectations.

*A late arriving crowd but a good crowd nonetheless, especially for the Saturday night before first semester final exams. The announced attendance (1426) feels a little low as Starr looked to be about 80-85% filled on Saturday night; a bigger crowd definitely than for either of the games with Clarkson and St. Lawrence however with no turnstiles, counting the crowd is an inexact science. The student sections got larger as the game went on as well. Not only was there a big-game atmosphere on the ice but also in the crowd. That said, the movement continues #OccupyStarrRink

*The penalty kill, missing Chris Wagner, was extremely solid. In a six-game unbeaten streak, the Raiders are 23-for-25 (92.0%) on the penalty kill and that includes Saturday night’s 5-for-5 effort. Merrimack was limited to very few power play shots and while the Warriors did have decent offensive zone possession, it did not result in scoring chance after scoring chance. Keep in mind as well, Colgate last season allowed 39 power play goals.

*Colgate carried the play for the final two regulation periods, outshooting Merrimack 24-10 in those 40 minutes. It just seemed that the Raiders were a step quicker and wanted it more than Merrimack in the second and third periods. Six minutes of power play time in the second period did not hurt that either. However the Raiders out-played the Warriors in that time. Regardless of the final result, it has to be a huge confidence boost having just skated with and skated past (more-or-less) the number five team in the nation. Also the Maroon and White just flat-out hustled. One particular play in overtime stood out as Merrimack had a near 2-on-1 however Thomas Larkin got back up the ice, forced the puck carrier wide right and then stripped the puck away negating what could have been the game-winning rush.

*The Raiders found a way to score and did so with hard work. If this were last year, Colgate probably would have been shut out by a strong defensive team and a hot goaltender. However, this team continues to find a way to win – or in this case, break a shutout. After a Colgate power play expired in the second, Austin Smith knocked down a Merrimack pass at the red line and turned that into a scoring chance. Joe Cannata made a kick save on Smith and with no maroon jersey’s near the blue paint, Merrimack’s defense was able to sweep the rebound clear. However Thomas Larkin hustled along the blue line to keep the play alive. Larkin dunked the puck right back down low to Smith to set up tic-tac-toe passing that led to Robbie Bourdon’s one-time slap shot from the right circle.

*Kurtis Bartliff returned to the Colgate line-up for the first time since Oct. 14. He began the night as a center with Austin Smith and Joe Wilson on his wings however Bartliff later moved back to wing when Austin Smith was pushed to center. The junior played well and had the primary assist on Robbie Bourdon’s game-tying goal.

*Despite a 0-for-5 number on the power play, both five-man units moved the puck around well and most importantly shot the puck on goal. Colgate finished with over 10 power play shots and that was without Chris Wagner on the Austin Smith power play unit. Thomas Larkin, normally a defenseman, moved up to right wing to fill in for Wagner and there was no drop-off in production.

*It goes without saying that Colgate had another strong defensive night. The goaltending tandem of Alex Evin and Eric Mihalik has been tremendous throughout the first half of the season and Saturday night was no exception. Mihalik played his usual strong game between the pipes. Even when Colgate has faltered defensively and made some of the mistakes that were a hallmark of the 2010-11 season, those mistakes have not ended up in the back of the net – thanks to Evin and Mihalik.

The Bad
*Penalties. Not the sheer number but simply the timeliness. Three of Colgate’s five infractions came in the first 90 seconds of a period – two in the first 30 seconds. The final three penalty whistles all went on Colgate and that includes a boarding penalty in the opening stages of overtime. The Raiders took just two penalties in the first 40 minutes of the game. The penalty kill has been outstanding but the team cannot continuously put itself into man-down situations.

*This is not a bad per se but the Raiders have to do a better job of getting the puck into the high-traffic zone against teams that pack the front of the net. Saturday’s game felt very much like the 2-0 loss to Yale in which the majority of Colgate’s offense came from the outer perimeter and the chances in the front of the net were few and far between. The Raiders will see more solid defensive teams down the road (Ferris State, Cornell) so getting the puck down low between the circles has to be a big priority.

This and That…
*The tie is just Colgate’s second draw this season in 16 games. Saturday night marked Colgate’s first overtime game since a 7-6 thriller over Niagara on Oct. 28 at Dwyer Arena. The Raiders are now 2-0-2 in overtime this season with the other stalemate coming on Oct. 22 against Army on Cape Cod. The last overtime game at Starr Rink was on Oct. 15 when Colgate edged Miami University 3-2.

*The 1-1 deadlock is Colgate’s third in the last two years. The Raiders skated to a pair of 1-1 ties last season against conference opponents Cornell (home) and Yale (road).

*With an assist on Saturday night, Austin Smith moved into a tie for 24th place on Colgate’s all-time scoring list with former line mate David McIntyre. Smith has 131 career points on 61 goals and 70 assists. He is the 34th player in school history to reach the 70-assist plateau. Smith can take over sole possession of 24th place with a single point against Canisius on Dec. 30. The senior is two points away from Joey Cyr who sits in 23rd. Smith also is averaging a point per game in his career.

*Both Colgate assistant coaches, Brad Dexter and Jason Lefevre, were on the bench on Saturday night alongside Don Vaughan. According to the radio broadcast, Lefevre was away last weekend recruiting and Dexter missed most of Saturday night’s game due to illness.

*Defenseman Thomas Larkin took Chris Wagner’s spot on the power play on Saturday night lining up at right wing. Larkin played forward at Phillips Exeter before being turned into a defenseman. The junior tri-captain worked on the power play with Austin Smith, Robbie Bourdon, Spiro Goulakos and Jeremy Price.

*According to InsideCollegeHockey.com, former Raider forward Jon Smyth attended Saturday night’s game. INCH’s Joe Gladiszewski was also in attendance.

*Chris Wagner missed his first game since Nov. 19, 2010.

*With a tie, the Raiders clinched at least a .500 record in non-conference play. Through nine non-league games, Colgate is 5-2-2. With three games outside of ECAC Hockey left (Canisius, Ferris State x2), the worst that Colgate can finish is 5-5-2. Colgate hasn’t finished with a winning record in non-league games since 2007-2008.

2011-2012 Season, Game 18: Colgate vs. Merrimack

2011-12-09T22:57:00.000-08:00

Game 18: Colgate (11-4-1, 6-2-0 ECAC) vs. Merrimack (10-2-1, 7-2-1 Hockey East)
Dates: Sat.., Dec. 10, 2011
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.
Radio: 93.9 FM WKXZ
Internet Broadcast: TEAMLINE (http://www.teamline.cc), 94 KXZ (http://www.wkxzfm.com)
Internet Video: None
Live Stats: http://www.gocolgateraiders.com

Opponent: Merrimack College
Nickname: Warriors
Location: North Andover, Mass.
Conference: Hockey East
2010-2011 Record: 25-10-4 (16-8-3 Hockey East)
League Finish: Fourth of 10 teams
Playoffs: Defeated Maine, two games to none, in the Hockey East quarterfinals. Defeated New Hampshire, 4-1, in the Hockey East semifinals but fell to Boston College, 5-3, in the Hockey East championship game. NCAA – lost in overtime to Notre Dame, 4-3, in the regional semifinals.
2011-2012 Preseason Rank: Fifth of 10 teams in Hockey East

Head Coach: Mark Dennehy (Boston College 1991)
Experience: Seventh season at Merrimack, eighth season overall
Record: 84-147-27 overall through eight seasons, 81-120-23 through seven years at Merrimack
Assistant Coaches: Glenn Stewart, Curtis Carr and Jim Healey
**Did You Know: Mark Dennehy spent one year as the head men’s ice hockey coach at Fairfield University. Dennehy led the Stags, founding members of the MAAC hockey conference (pre-cursor to Atlantic Hockey), in 1999-2000. In Dennehy’s lone season at the helm of the Stags, Fairfield cobbled out a 3-28-3 mark with victories over Bentley (x2) and Holy Cross.

All-Time Series: 8-7-0 Merrimack (15 games)
Home: 4-3-0 Colgate
Road: 3-2-0 Merrimack
Neutral: 2-1-0 Merrimack

First Meeting: Colgate 6 Merrimack 2 (Dec. 2, 1961; Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.)
Last Meeting: Merrimack 9 Colgate 5 (Nov. 23, 2001; War Memorial; Syracuse, N.Y.)
Last Colgate Win: Nov. 27, 1999 (Colgate 3-0; War Memorial; Syracuse, N.Y.)
Last Merrimack Win: Nov. 23, 2001 (Merrimack 9-5; War Memorial; Syracuse, N.Y.)

SERIES NOTES
*Colgate and Merrimack have not opposed one another since the first round of the 2001 Syracuse Invitational Tournament. The Warriors used a nine-goal explosion over the final 40 minutes of regulation to best Colgate 9-5 at the Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse.

*Overall, Colgate and Merrimack met three times in the Salt City with Merrimack winning two of the three SIT games.

*The 10-year span in between meetings is the second-longest in the all-time series. The longest stretch in between games was 16 years as the Warriors edged the Raiders, 4-3, in Nov. 1977 and then the two teams did not play again until Nov. 1993.

*The Warriors have not traveled to Hamilton for a game at Starr Rink since Nov. 1, 1996. That night, the Raiders slammed the Warriors 7-3. Conversely Colgate has not been to Merrimack’s Lawler Arena in North Andover, Mass., since Jan. 11, 1998 – a 10-7 Colgate victory.

*In 15 all-time meetings, the Warriors and Raiders have gone to overtime just once. Merrimack nipped Colgate 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 5, 1993 in North Andover.

*In all but one game in the series history, the winning team has scored at least three goals. The lone low-scoring affair came in 1966 at Starr Rink with Merrimack defeating Colgate 2-1.

*Don Vaughan is 4-3-0 all-time against Merrimack.

Last Game – Merrimack 9 Colgate 5 – SIT First Round (Nov. 23, 2001; War Memorial; Syracuse, N.Y.)
Colgate Goals: Dmitry Yashin (Darryl McKinnon, Joey Mormina), Adam Mitchell (Ben Bryce), P.J. Yedon (Kyle Doyle), Dmitry Yashin (Paul Kelley, Ben Bryce), Ben Bryce (unassisted)
Scoring By Period: Colgate 3-1-1, Merrimack 0-3-6
Shots: Merrimack 45-28; Merrimack 35-14 over the final two periods
Power Play: Colgate 1-for-4, Merrimack 1-for-1
Goalies: Jason Lefevre (Colgate) 30 saves on 36 shots, Steve Silverthorn (Colgate) six saves on nine shots, Joe Exter (Merrimack) seven saves on 10 shots, Jason Wolfe (Merrimack) 16 saves on 18 shots

*SCORING AGAINST OPPONENT
N/A

Merrimack– Leading Scorers (Current)
Ryan Flanigan (Sr. F) 6-6-12
Mike Collins (So. F) 5-6-11
Jesse Todd (Sr. F) 5-5-10
Karl Stollery (Sr. D) 3-7-10
Jordan Heywood (So. D) 1-8-9
Brendan Harris (So. D) 1-8-9
*Joe Cannata (Sr. G) 9-2-1, 1.83 GAA, .933 SV %

Merrimack – Top Returning Players (2010-11 Numbers*)
Ryan Flanigan (Sr. F) 16-18-34, Career: 95 games
Jesse Todd (Sr. F) 17-14-31, Career: 102 games, 71 points
Mike Collins (So. F) 14-16-30
Karl Stollery (Sr. D) 6-21-27, Career: 108 games, 62 points
Carter Madsen (Sr. F) 10-11-21, Career: 91 games
Elliott Sheen (Sr. F) 7-13-20, Career: 90 games
Joe Cannata (Sr. G) 25-10-4, 2.48 GAA, .911 SV %, Career: 42-34-9, 2.60 GAA, .910 SV %

Merrimack – Key Losses
Stephane Da Costa (F) 14-31-45, Career: 90 points, 67 games – Signed with NHL’s Ottawa Senators
Chris Barton (F) 14-25-39, Career: 141 games, 119 points
Joe Cucci (F) 14-22-36, Career: 122 games
Adam Ross (D) 2-8-10, Career: 139 games

Merrimack - Key Additions
Kyle Singleton (F) Westside Warriors (BCHL)
Quinn Gould (F) Westside Warriors (BCHL)
Josh Myers (F) Langley Chiefs (BCHL)
Dan Kolomatis (D) Tri-City Storm (USHL)
Clayton Jardine (F) Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)
Mike Willis (D) Lindsay Muskies (OJHL)
Connor Toomey (D) New Hampshire Monarchs (EJHL), EJHL 2011 Playoff MVP
Justin Mansfield (F) Boston Jr. Bruins (EJHL)
Rasmus Tirronen (G) Topeka Roadrunners (NAHL)

Connections
*Colgate’s John Lidgett and Merrimack’s Clayton Jardine were junior hockey teammates last season with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Camrose Kodiaks. The pair played together in the 2011 RBC Cup.

*Colgate’s Mike Leidl and Merrimack’s Kyle Bigos were junior hockey teammates with the British Columbia Hockey League’s Vernon Vipers in 2007-2008. Vernon won the BCHL championship and went on to win the RBC Cup.

*Merrimack’s Jeff Velleca and Colgate’s Austin Mayer were junior hockey teammates with the Eastern Junior Hockey League’s New Hampshire Monarchs in 2007-2008. The Monarchs won the EJHL championship.

Loose Pucks – Merrimack
*The Warriors were ranked number one in both the USCHO.com Top 20 and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine for two weeks. Merrimack fell from first to fifth in the current rankings after being swept by Providence College in a home-and-home series last weekend.

*Wednesday night, Merrimack ended a brief two-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over Vermont at Lawler Arena. Justin Mansfield and Jeff Velleca each scored twice for the Warriors and Merrimack never trailed. The Catamounts did outshoot the Warriors 34-33 and had seven power plays to Merrimack’s three.

*Entering Saturday night, Merrimack is ranked second in the PairWise (PWR) and third in the KRACH. Ohio State is number one in the PWR and Merrimack trails both Ohio State and Minnesota-Duluth in the KRACH.

*The North Andover, Mass., school has the highest winning percentage in NCAA Division I. The Warriors are 10-2-1 (.808) through 13 games. Merrimack is also 4-2-1 against “Teams Under Consideration (TUC).”

*Last season, Merrimack went 25-10-4 and finished fourth in Hockey East. The Warriors set a school record for wins in a single season and advanced to the championship game of the Hockey East tournament. ‘Mack also earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament but fell to eventual Frozen Four participant Notre Dame in the regional semifinals.

*The Warriors return six of their top 10 scorers from last year however none of the top four. Merrimack’s top point producer last season, All-American Stephane Da Costa, left school after two seasons to sign a contract with the National Hockey League’s Ottawa Senators.

*Goaltender Joe Cannata, Merrimack’s all-time wins leader, is among the top goaltenders in the country. Cannata is ranked third nationally in winning percentage (.792, 9-2-1), seventh in goals against average (1.83) and seventh in save percentage (.933).

*Merrimack’s scoring defense (1.69 goals allowed per game) is ranked second in the country behind Cornell. The Warriors have just once allowed more than two goals in a single game – that came in a 6-1 loss to Providence College last weekend.

*The Warriors are also strong in special teams, ranked third nationally in combined special teams behind Northern Michigan and Yale. Merrimack is rated 15th on the power play (15-for-69, 21.7%) and 13th on the penalty kill (75-for-86, 87.2%). If you do not include a bad penalty killing night versus Providence last weekend (PC scored five PPG), the Warriors are 66-for-72 or 91.7% on the PK.

*Merrimack leads the nation in penalty minutes per game with 21.8. The North Andover, Mass., school has recorded 284 penalty minutes in 13 games. That includes a 72-minute night last Saturday against Providence that included three game misconducts, one 10-minute misconduct and two five-minute majors.

*Scoring First: 7-0-1, Leading After 1: 5-0-0, Leading After 2: 7-0-1

*Mike McMahon of the Eagle Times and "The Mack Report" is reporting that Merrimack may be without several players on Saturday night due to injury including defenseman Kyle Bigos, forward Elliot Sheen, defenseman Dan Kolomatis and forward Quinn Gould.

*Of course Merrimack is no longer undefeated however the Warriors did enter the month of December without a loss. Merrimack is the first team to enter December without a loss since the University of Maine accomplished the same feat in 1992-93. The Black Bears went 42-1-2 and won the national championship.

*Head coach Mark Dennehy’s roster includes 12 Canadians with 10 of the 12 coming from the western Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. And overall, 14 of Merrimack’s 28 players have experience in Jr. A leagues from western Canada – BCHL, AJHL and SJHL.

Loose Pucks – Colgate
*Colgate has not faced a Hockey East opponent at Starr Rink defeating UMass Lowell, 2-1, on Oct. 11, 2008. The game was the season opener for both teams. It was the Colgate debut for current seniors Austin Smith, Corbin McPherson, Nick Prockow and Matt Firman. Alex Evin dressed but did not play.

*The Raiders have a 4-5 record in their last nine games against Hockey East competition. That dates back to the beginning of the 2006-2007 season. Colgate has pocketed victories over Vermont, Maine, UMass Lowell and Northeastern while losing to Boston College, Vermont (x2), Northeastern and UMass Lowell. It should be noted that in that span, only UMass Lowell has traveled to Starr Rink. All of the other games were on the road or at a neutral site.

*Heading into Saturday’s game with Merrimack, here is where Colgate stands nationally – 11 USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Coaches Poll; 12 USCHO.com Top 20; 13 PairWise Rankings (PWR), 14 KRACH (Ken’s Rankings for American College Hockey). Colgate’s record against “Teams Under Consideration” (TUC) is 3-2-0; Colgate picked up an extra TUC loss when Harvard entered the PWR at number 31.

*The Raiders are currently riding a five-game winning streak which is the longest at the school since 2005-2006. Colgate has amassed wins in the streak over Quinnipiac, Princeton, Vermont, Clarkson and St. Lawrence. The Maroon and White have not won six games in a row since the 2004-2005 season.

*In the current five-game winning streak, Colgate has outscored opponents 21-7 and has trailed four times and by no more than one goal – 1-0 to Quinnipiac, 1-0 to Vermont and 1-0/2-1 to Clarkson. Colgate has scored at least three goals in each win and has not allowed more than two goals. Ten of Colgate’s 21 goals during the winning streak have been in the third period. Eight different players have scored goals during the streak. Austin Smith has a team-high 12 points (8-4-12) over the last five games.

*Special teams have also been special during the five-game winning streak. Colgate is 18-for-20 (90.0%) on the penalty kill and 5-for-22 (22.7%) on the power play.

*Chris Wagner will miss Saturday night’s game due to a league-issued suspension. Wagner has to miss one game because of a contact to the head major he received against Clarkson last Friday night. The suspension was issued earlier this week. Wagner has not missed a game since Nov. 19, 2010, a 5-2 loss to Brown at home.

*Through eight non-conference games, the Raiders are 5-2-1. After Saturday, Colgate has remaining non-league tilts with Canisius and Ferris State (x2). Colgate has not carved out a winning record in non-conference games during the regular season since 2007-2008 (6-5-1).

*Last year at this time, Colgate was 3-9-1 coming off a win at Army which ended an eight-game winless slide. The Raiders blanked the Black Knights 3-0 on Dec. 4 and then dropped an overtime affair at home to Niagara, 4-3, on Dec. 11. The Niagara loss was the start of a 14-game winless streak.

*Colgate’s 11 total wins through 16 games equals last year’s end-of-season total. Since last year’s victory over Clarkson at home, the Raiders are 19-10-2.

*Through 16 games, Austin Smith leads the nation in total goals (18), goals per game (1.12), points per game (1.69) and short-handed goals (five). Smith is tied for the national lead in total points (27) and game-winning goals (five). Overall, Smith has 130 career points on 61 goals and 69 assists. He is tied with Greg Drechsel for 25th place on Colgate’s all-time points list. Smith has also eclipsed his career high for goals (previous, 17) and he is 14 points shy of tying his career high (41).

*Goaltender Alex Evin is the national leader in goals against average (1.48) and save percentage (.948). Overall, the senior is 4-1-1 and he has not allowed more than two goals in a single game this season. During his final junior hockey season with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees, Evin was named the Top Goaltender in the league and he topped the BCHL in goals against average and saves.

*Quick Numbers…Scoring Three or More Goals: 11-1-0, Leading After Two Periods: 9-0-0, Scoring a Power Play Goal: 7-3-0, Allowing Two or Fewer Goals: 8-2-1

*Very few times this season has Colgate entered the locker room with a deficit. The Raiders have trailed after one period just twice (Yale, Vermont) and have been down after two periods thrice (Army, Yale and Harvard).

*Not only Austin Smith has set a new career mark this season. Both Chris Wagner and Austin Mayer have broken previous career highs in points. Wagner totaled 19 points last season as a rookie on nine goals and 10 assists. Through 16 games this year, the sophomore has 20 points (7-13-20). Austin Mayer’s 12 points (6-6-12) is also a career high. Mayer’s previous high was 10 which he recorded in his first season at Colgate and in his final season at Providence.

*This season, when Austin Mayer has recorded at least one point, the Raiders are 8-0-0 (Thanks CollegeHockeyInc.com).

*Saturday’s game between Colgate and Merrimack will take place 45 years to the day from their second all-time meeting. On Dec. 10, 1966, Merrimack edged Colgate, 3-1, in North Andover, Mass.

*Speaking of Dec. 10, the Raiders are 6-3-0 all-time on Dec. 10. Colgate has not played on Dec. 10 since 1999 when the Hamiltonians took out Ferris State, 4-1, at Starr Rink in the first game of a two-game set. Over the last 30 years, Colgate has played only three times on Dec. 10. All-time, the Raiders have wins on this date over Ferris State, Hamilton (x2), Buffalo, Oswego State and Providence.

*Hashtags…
#OccupyStarrRink
#FreeChrisWagner
#AustinSmithForHobey

Catching Up With the Kids (Dec. 8)

2011-12-08T09:44:00.000-08:00

Cornwall Colts (Central Canada Hockey League)
The Colts trail the Carleton Place Canadians by two points for first place in the CCHL's Robinson Division. Cornwall is 23-6-0-1 on the season. Cornwall's 47 points are the third-most in the CCHL.

Kyle Baun F (Scarborough, Ont.)
6-6-12, 8 PIM, 10 games
*Kyle recently returned from an injury that kept him sidelined for just about one month.
*He has recorded five points (2-3-5) in his first four games back in the line-up.
CCHL Player Page

Michael Borkowski F (Kanata, Ont.)
14-28-42, 22 PIM, 29 games - Tied for eighth in the CCHL in overall points
*Currently riding a seven-game point streak in which he has posted 20 points (6-14-20)
CCHL Player Page

Tyson Spink F (Williamstown, Ont.)
15-22-37, 10 PIM, 19 games
*Due to injury Tyson has played only three games since the start of Nov.
*However, Tyson has recorded at least one point in 18 of 19 games played that includes a four-goal performance on Oct. 21 against Gloucester.
*World Jr. A Challenge, Canada East - Silver Medal
CCHL Player Page

Tylor Spink F (Williamstown, Ont.)
13-30-43, 14 PIM, 14 games, 3.07 ppg - Seventh in the CCHL in overall points
*Tylor has totaled 12 multi-point efforts in 14 games played and he has at least one point in every game
*He has recorded multiple points in nine-straight games including a seven-point night vs. Kemptville on Nov. 19
*World Jr. A Challenge, Canada East - Silver Medal
CCHL Player Page

Nepean Raiders (Central Canada Hockey League)
Ryan Johnston D "A" (Sudbury, Ont.)
14-28-42, 20 PIM, 31 games - First in the CCHL for defenseman scoring, tied for eighth overall
*CCHL Player of the Month for November - 22 points (9-13-22)
*Recorded a hat trick at Cumberland on Nov. 13
CCHL Player Page

Cumberland Grads (Central Canada Hockey League)
Kevin Lough D "C" (Ottawa, Ont.) - Ranked 14th in CCHL for defense scoring
5-15-20, 20 PIM, 25 games
*World Junior A Challenge, Canada East - Silver Medal
CCHL Player Page

Trenton Golden Hawks (Ontario Junior Hockey League)
Spencer Finney G (Pontypool, Ont.)
17-4-1-1, 2.41 GAA, .920 SV %, 2 SHO, 643 saves
*Trenton has a league-best 51 points and the Golden Hawks lead their closest divisional foe by eight points
*Spencer has gone 8-2-0 in his last 10 starts; he earned his second shutout of the season Dec. 6 vs. Whitby
OJHL Player Page

Alberni Valley Bulldogs (British Columbia Hockey League)
Max Fenkell G (Meadowbrook, Pa.)
4-8-1, 2.94 GAA, .906 SV %, 1 SHO, 405 saves
*Max has not allowed more than two goals in seven of his last eight appearances
*He earned his first shutout of the season with a 27-save effort against Langley on Nov. 12.
BCHL Player Page

Alumni in the Pros (Dec. 7, 2011)

2011-12-07T10:27:00.000-08:00

National Hockey League
David Conte '71, New Jersey Devils (Executive VP, Hockey Operations)
Andrew Dickson '93, Columbus Blue Jackets (Amateur Scout)
Shep Harder '00, Minnesota Wild (Director, Hockey Administration)

Mark Dekanich '08, Columbus Blue Jackets
*Yet to play this season due to injury

Andy McDonald '00, St. Louis Blues
0-2-2, +1 Plus/Minus, 2 PIM, 3 GM
*Has been on injured reserve since Oct. 17, suffered concussion Oct. 13

Kyle Wilson '06, Nashville Predators
0-0-0, Even Plus/Minus, 0 PIM, 3 GM
*Debuted with Nashville on Dec. 1 at Vancouver
*With AHL Springfield, 12-12-24 in 23 games

Jesse Winchester '08, Ottawa Senators
1-4-5, +4 Plus/Minus, 12 PIM, 21 GM
*Fifty points on 10 goals and 40 assists in 222 career games with Ottawa

American Hockey League
Steve Poapst '91, Rockford Ice Hogs (Assistant Coach)

Brian Day '11, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
*Yet to play this season due to a lower body injury

David McIntyre '10, Houston Aeros
7-4-11, +5 Plus/Minus, 29 PIM, 21 games
*Played in two games for the Minnesota Wild
*Made NHL debut Nov. 28 against Tampa Bay, recorded one shot

Joey Mormina '05, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
3-1-4, -4 Plus/Minus, 35 PIM, 24 games
*One of only two skaters to play in every game this season with WBS

ECHL
Francois Brisebois '11, Ontario Reign
5-7-12, +1 Plus/Minus, 12 PIM, 19 games
*Leading rookie scorer for Reign, fifth on team in points

Ethan Cox '10, "A", Alaska Aces
5-8-13, +12 Plus/Minus, 7 PIM, 19 games
*First among all Alaska forwards in +/-, tied for second in ECHL

Jason Fredricks '09, Ontario Reign
*Has yet to play this season due to injury

Liam Huculak '07, Colorado Eagles
0-2-2, +6 Plus/Minus, 36 PIM, 17 games
*Fourth among all Colorado skaters in +/- and PIM

CHL
Dad Wildfong '99, Texas Brahmas (Head Coach)

Wade Poplawski '11, Rapid City Rush
0-0-0, -5 Plus/Minus, 10 PIM, 11 games
*Currently listed on Rapid City's injured list, hasn't played since Nov. 18

Steve Silverthorn '05, Texas Brahmas
4-5-2, 2.73 GAA, .899 SV %, 11 games
*One of his teammates is former SLU forward Alex Curran

EUROPE
Rob Brown '04, ESV Kaufbeuren Joker (2.G Bundisliga, Germany)
3-5-8, 18 PIM, 20 games
*First on team in goals by a defenseman, second in defense points
*Has not missed a game this season

Kyle Doyle '04, EV Lindau Islanders (Bayerische Eishockey Liga D, Germany)
*Doyle signed with EV Lindau on Dec. 1
*Article on Doyle's signing in Google Translate - Here

Adam Mitchell '05, Adler Mannheim Eagles (German Elite League)
8-17-25, +1 Plus/Minus, 26 PIM, 24 games
*Tied for third overall in the DEL in total points
*Mannheim is in second place in the DEL

Cory Murphy '01, ZSC Lions (National League "A", Switzerland)
2-6-8, +3 Plus/Minus, 2 PIM, 13 games

Nick St. Pierre '09, HC Plzen 1929 (Tipsport Extraliga, Czech Republic)
1-4-5, 32 PIM, 27 games
*Had one assist and two penalty minutes in six European Tournament games

Game Recap, Colgate vs. St. Lawrence

2011-12-06T09:01:00.000-08:00

Game 17: Colgate vs. St. Lawrence
Dates: Sat., Dec. 3, 2011
Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.
Score: Colgate 6 St. Lawrence 2
Records: Colgate 11-4-1 (6-2-0 ECAC), St. Lawrence 5-9-0 (4-4-0 ECAC)

Colgate Game Story
St. Lawrence Game Story
Watertown Daily Times Article
Box Score

Quick Analysis
Finally….a win over St. Lawrence. And not just a win but a win in convincing fashion.

The Good
*A win over St. Lawrence ends what had become a three-year winning streak in the all-time series for the Skating Saints. Colgate's last win over St. Lawrence was in the 2008 ECAC Hockey postseason. In a year of “redemption” and ending streaks (sweeping multiple weekends, winning an in-season tournament etc), a win over the Larries seems apropos.

*Colgate stormed out of the locker room with a strong showing in the first period that included three goals in a 12-minute span to go ahead 3-0. Any thoughts of St. Lawrence bounding back after a tough showing at Cornell on Friday were wiped away when Colgate took an early 1-0 lead and then added “two” power play goals to balloon its’ advantage to three. The third goal, which went in off of an SLU defender, quashed any positive momentum St. Lawrence may have gathered during a two-minute penalty kill.

*And following a poor second period, the Raiders burst out of the locker room in the third and delivered a knock-out punch with a score in the first four minutes. This was something that was missing from league home wins against Princeton and Quinnipiac in that the Tigers and Bobcats were allowed to hang around before Colgate finally pulled away. In the case of Saturday night, the Raiders did not waste any time in stepping on the throat of the Saints in the third.

*El Diablo and the Magic Man have nothing on Austin Smith and Chris Wagner. Smith’s chemistry with Wagner may even surpass his chemistry several years ago with David McIntyre. Each registered four points and that included a successful 2-on-1 short-handed break in which Wagner and Smith set up a perfectly-timed passing play that resulted in a soft touch one-timer finish for Smith. The Smith-Wagner-Wilson line has been one of Colgate’s best.

*While the Smith-Wagner-Wilson line has played well, one of the reasons Colgate on a whole is having a good season is because of the play of the line of Matt Firman, Austin Mayer and Nick Prockow. The three played together some last year and then were broken up because of inconsistency. Now, the three seniors are playing exactly like seniors and they came together for a strong game against the Saints as each bookend forward set up Austin Mayer for a goal. The three have been at their best below the goal line and in the corners, winning battles and getting the puck into the high-traffic zone. The emergence of this line as a viable scoring threat, night in and night out, makes Colgate a dangerous team.

*The power play had a good night despite what on paper is a 1-for-6 effort. Essentially the Raiders potted a pair of man-up goals in a three-score first period. The first power play of the night lasted just nine seconds as Jeremy Price roped in a shot through traffic from the top of the slot. The second power play resulted in a puck going off a defenseman’s skate and into the St. Lawrence net just two seconds after a penalty expired. The puck movement has been superb and both five-man units have gelled well. All told, that’s 17 power play goals officially in 16 games.

*While the offense garnered the headlines, the play of Alex Evin in the goal was again solid. The senior has yet to allow more than two goals in a game this season – he has played in six contests. Evin ended up making 28 saves on 30 shots and 14 of those saves came in the second period when the Larries outshot the Raiders 16-6. Evin nabbed his first-ever win over St. Lawrence and he continues to churn out strong games between the pipes for the Maroon and White.

*Winning at home. When the Raiders were battling on the road, the sentiment was that they would need to play well at home to justify splitting on the road. Well, that is exactly what was happened as through four league home games, Colgate is 4-0-0. Combine that with the .500 road record from the ECAC New England swing and it puts the Raiders at 6-2-0 in the league with 12 points, one behind league-leading Cornell.

The Bad
*The second period in general was not a good one, save for Austin Smith’s short-handed goal that bumped Colgate ahead 4-1. Now this Raider team isn’t used to playing with a 3-0 lead and we suspect that part of the woeful middle frame was simply not knowing how to react (or letting down) after coming out in the first period and taking over the game with three goals in the opening 16 minutes. Credit does need to be given to St. Lawrence for not giving up and continuing to fight however Colgate’s sloppiness was the overriding theme in the period.

*More bad penalties. One night after taking several ill-timed penalties against Clarkson, the Raiders racked up three-straight whistles in the final two minutes of the first period and then Colgate took two penalties less than 40 seconds apart in the second period. While the officiating wasn’t the best, the majority of the penalties were correctly assessed. Colgate faced a 5-on-3 skater disadvantage for the third-straight game. The penalty parade for the Raiders cannot continue. Also, the Maroon and White took two goaltender interference penalties and a five-minute major for cross-checking was assessed, Colgate’s fourth major penalty of the season.

*With a short-handed goal and two successful kills of 5-on-3 power play’s, it’s hard to put the penalty kill under the bad category here. However, St. Lawrence was still able to score two power play goals – one in a 5-on-4 situation and another in a 4-on-3 because of bad Colgate penalties. The Raiders did have a streak of 16-straight penalty kills broken up by Jacob Drewiske’s goal early in the second.

*Penalty sequences – none in the first 10 minutes of the game and then six in the final 10 minutes of the first period that included four between 17:30 and 19:37. No penalties in the first nine minutes of the second period and then four in a span of about four minutes midway through the frame. And then two five-minute majors called in the third – no misconducts or disqualifications with those penalties, just five minute majors, one on each side. Nice work Bob Ritchie and Tim Kotyra.

The Turning Point…
Believe it or not, this actually came in the second period. Sure, Colgate just about dominated the first period though a penalty parade in the second helped St. Lawrence pull within two at 3-1. With the Saints on a power play midway through the second, Jeremy Price started Austin Smith and Chris Wagner on a 2-on-1 short-handed rush. Smith drew a penalty in transition and then finished off a give-and-go with Wagner to put Colgate up 4-1. If Colgate doesn’t start the fast break, no penalty occurs and SLU continues on the power play down by two with a chance to change the complexion of the game.

This and That
*With a win over St. Lawrence on Saturday night, Colgate ended an eight-game losing streak against St. Lawrence. Now, Colgate’s only sizable winless streak against an ECAC opponent is against Cornell. The Big Red are 9-0-3 against the Raiders dating back to the start of the 2007-08 season.

*Austin Smith now has 130 career points in 130 career games which mean that he is averaging one point per game for his collegiate career. Smith is now also tied with Greg Dreschel for 25th place on Colgate’s all-time points list. He is one point behind former line mate David McIntyre (131 points).

*Former Colgate captain and assistant coach Andrew Dickson took in the game on Saturday night. Dickson is currently working as an amateur scout for the Columbus Blue Jackets organization.

*Five Raiders ended up with multi-point nights led by Austin Smith and Chris Wagner with four points apiece. Jeremy Price gathered up three points (1-2-3) while Austin Mayer and Nick Prockow each had two points. The last time Colgate had two players with four points in a single game was in a 7-6 overtime loss at Canisius on Dec. 20, 2009. On that night, Brian Day (1-3-4) and Austin Smith (0-4-4) each had four points.

*Alex Evin ended his own personal winless drought against the Saints. Evin entered the night 0-6-0 all-time against St. Lawrence.

*Overall, the Raiders have won five games in a row and not lost since Nov. 12 at Harvard. It’s the first five-game winning streak for the Maroon and White since 2005-06. The last time Colgate won six-straight games was in 2004-05.

*Meanwhile, at home, the Raiders have now won seven-straight ECAC games and that includes three-straight weekend sweeps dating back to February. Colgate’s last ECAC home loss came against St. Lawrence on Feb. 4. Since then, the Raiders have been Clarkson (x2), Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence. The next home league series will not take place until Jan. 21-22 against Harvard and Dartmouth.

*Colgate’s six goals against St. Lawrence are the most the Raiders have scored against the Larries since a 6-2 romp at Starr Rink during the 2006-07 season. In that game, current Ottawa Senator Jesse Winchester recorded a hat trick. Saturday’s game also marked the first time since the 2007-08 season that Colgate has recorded more than three goals in a single game vs. SLU.

*Scoring Three or More Goals: 11-1-0, Allowing Two or Fewer Goals: 8-2-1, Leading After Two Periods: 9-0-0.

*For unknown reasons, Don Vaughan spent the majority (if not all of – we’re not sure) of the game on Saturday night as the lone coach on the Colgate bench. The radio broadcast on Friday night mentioned that assistant coach Jason Lefevre was out of town recruiting.