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College Hockey Weekly Recap |
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Minnesota-Duluth, St Cloud and North Dakota dominate opening week of NCHC POD
With the uncertainty COVID-19 has brought to the world of sports, the NCHC is kicking their season off inside of a POD, hosted in Omaha. Each team was originally scheduled for 10 games over a three week span heading into the Christmas break. Teams will return to their respective campuses for the remainder of their season after the new year.
While Colorado College could not arrive until Friday due to COVID complications, each of the other seven NCHC teams were able to complete at least three games during the conference’s opening week which began on Tuesday.
After losing two-time national champion goalie Hunter Shepard, Minnesota-Duluth had nothing but question marks in goal as a pair of returning goalies and a freshman entered the 2020-21 college hockey season with a combined zero starts.
But it’s been much of the same outstanding goaltending in net for Duluth as sophomore Ryan Fanti has been one of the Bulldogs best players to date, getting the start between the pipes in all three Bulldogs games this past week.
“I don’t think we were really good in front of him with lack of support and some of the decisions we made,” Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said of Duluth’s start in Sunday’s 5-3 win over Miami “He came on big when we needed him, and the penalty shot was a big, big save to keep us with a one-goal lead and preserve the win. That could have been a turning point.”
Through three starts Fanti is 3-0-0 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.
Squeaking by in a trio of close games, St. Cloud State found their first week in the pod to be successful led by timely goal scoring and big saves.
Maple Leafs prospect and freshman Veeti Miettinen’s introduction to college hockey after coming over from Finland has been a good one as he’s tied for the team lead in points with three.
“The thing I’m almost-I don’t want to say happy because you can’t be happier than that. But I’m really excited about his compete level and his detail,” head coach Brett Larson said.
“I’ve really grown to trust him out there in big moments when we’ve need to make a play to get a puck out or win a stick battle. He’s showing that there’s a little more to his game than just shooting. Early on here I’m really excited about where he’s at.
Behind an offensive explosion against Western Michigan and a pair of tight wins against Miami and Denver, North Dakota also remains perfect after a three-game slate this past week. Senators prospect Shane Pinto leads the Fighting Hawks with five points.
Three of the five points including his first two goals of the season came in Sunday’s route of Western Michigan. Pinto says it was the right breakfast that got him going for what was an early noon start time.
“I had some Frosted Flakes with some potatoes and eggs,” Pinto said. "So now I think I’m going to have Frosted Flakes for every breakfast after that game.”
Boston College blanks Providence in weekend sweep to remain perfect
Not much has gone right in Hockey East so far. Teams like Merrimack and Providence finally kicked their season off this past weekend while teams like Boston University and Northeastern still have not been able to drop the puck.
However, everything has gone right for Boston College so far through four games. After originally being scheduled for a weekend series with Providence to end November, the Eagles and Friars finally found each other with BC taking both games by a combined score of 12-0.
Because of Hockey East’s continued flex scheduling, only one of the two contests were conference games.
"It was almost surreal that, two teams that are I think pretty close, and all of a sudden we jump to a 9-0 disparity," York said following Saturday’s victory. "Everything we did offensively was really clever, moved pucks really well. And Spencer (Knight) was like a brick wall back there. So that's a nice combination to bring on the road with us.”
One of the many bright spots so far for BC has been Bruins prospect freshman Trevor Kuntar. The native of Williamsville, New York has three goals and one assists through four game.
“With just two seniors, we’re getting a lot of leadership from our sophomore and junior class, freshman are contributing well,” head coach Jerry York said. “So it’s got some good balance to it.”
After COVID related delays pushed back the start date of their season several times, a tough weekend like that was not the way Providence wanted to kick off their season. But head coach Nate Leaman knows that there’s still a lot of hockey left to play and things can only go up from here.
Leaman believes in the guys he has inside his locker room and he made sure to tell them that after Sunday’s loss.
"I just said I believe in them, I do. We showed a lot of immaturity in that game. They scored early, they wanted to win. The heart and the effort weren’t bad, it was the brain and the immaturity. We got down, they wanted to win the game, but we tried to be too individual and we were pressing too much,” Leaman said.
The Friars are not scheduled to play again until a weekend set with Massachusetts on Dec. 19 and 20. But with the ever-changing Hockey East schedule, the Friars could get a pair of games this upcoming weekend, especially with the extend delay of Boston University’s season.
However, whenever the Friars are back on the ice it will be without Leaman behind the bench as he will be in Michigan with USA Hockey for the U.S World Junior Camp. Leaman will be the head coach of Team USA in the upcoming World Junior Championship.
Penn State notches first win of the season
It’s been a difficult start for the defending Big Ten regular season champions, but with a 9-5 victory over Michigan this past Thursday, the Nittany Lions were finally able to get one in the win column.
"In this league, there's no win that doesn't feel great, but because it's our first one, with a lot of new guys, and especially how it was done,” said head coach Guy Gadowsky. “We came out with much more a sense of urgency and intensity that we need to play well, and to see that for more of a sustained time was nice to see."
After Michigan took a 4-3 second period lead in the contest, the Nittany Lions managed four unanswered goals to secure their first win of the season.
Freshman Jared Westcott led the way for Penn State with three points including his first career college hockey goal.
Boston University trio replaced on world junior camp roster after school pauses activities
The Boston University men's ice hockey team has suspended all team activities after a member of the program tested positive for coronavirus, the BU Athletics Department announced Thursday. The school did not reveal if it was a player, coach or part of management that tested positive.
The Terriers were scheduled to play a weekend set with Connecticut this past weekend but obviously that series was postponed.
Because of school’s COVID related shutdown, Terriers Robert Mastrosimone, Alex Vlasic and Drew Commesso have been replaced in the above mentioned World Juniors camp.
Replacing the three are North Dakota defenseman Tyler Kleven, Ferris State goalie Logan Stein and Hunter Skinner who is currently playing with the London Knights of the OHL.
Non-Conference:
Bowling Green (6) Robert Morris (3) 12/1
Arizona State (6) Notre Dame (3) 12/3
Notre Dame (5) Arizona State (4) 12/4
Mercyhurst (2) Bowling Green (1) 12/5
Massachusetts (3) Merrimack (1) 12/5
Alabama-Huntsville (2) Lake Superior State (2) 12/5
Boston College (9) Providence (0) 12/5
Bowling Green (3) Mercyhurst (1) 12/6
Lake Superior State (3) Alabama-Huntsville (2) 12/6
Merrimack (3) Massachusetts (2) 12/6
Michigan Tech (3) Minnesota State (1) 12/6
Atlantic Hockey:
Holy Cross (2) Bentley (1) 12/1
Bentley (4) Army (2) 12/4
Sacred Heart (2) Holy Cross (1) 12/4
Robert Morris (4) Air Force (1) 12/4
Niagara (3) RIT (3) 12/5
Robert Morris (4) Air Force (2) 12/5
Army (2) Bentley (0) 12/5
Holy Cross (6) Sacred Heart (3) 12/6
RIT (5) Niagara (1) 12/6
NCHC
Minnesota-Duluth (5) Omaha (3) 12/1
St. Cloud State (4) Western Michigan (3) 12/1
North Dakota (2) Miami (0) 12/2
Minnesota-Duluth (2) Denver (1) 12/2
Omaha (10) Western Michigan (2) 12/3
North Dakota (4) Denver (3) OT 12/4
Omaha (2) Miami (1) OT 12/5
St. Cloud State (4) Denver (3) 12/5
North Dakota (8) Western Michigan (2) 12/6
Minnesota-Duluth (5) Miami (3) 12/6
St. Cloud State (5) Omaha (3) 12/6
Big Ten
Michigan (3) Penn State (1) 12/2
Ohio State (4) Wisconsin (2) 12/3
Penn State (9) Michigan (5) 12/3
Minnesota (3) Michigan State (1) 12/3
Wisconsin (3) Ohio State (1) 12/4
Minnesota (4) Michigan State (2) 12/4
Hockey East
Boston College (3) Providence (0) 12/4
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