Union was tough on its ECAC Hockey opponents during the regular season at Messa Rink last year, posting a 5-1-5 record. The Dutchmen’s only loss was to Harvard.
With four home games to start league play, the Dutchmen had a chance to once again make life miserable for their opponents. Instead, they wasted the opportunity, losing three times. Ironically, their only win was against Harvard, a team they had beaten at home in seven years.
The two biggest problems have been the Dutchmen’s first-period starts and the number of power plays they have allowed.
Union has been outscored, 6-1, yet hold a 43-42 shot advantage. The Dutchmen gave up a goal in the first minute to Dartmouth Nov. 7, and in the first two minutes against Quinnipiac on Friday. The efforts in both of those games weren’t good.
They had a better effort against Princeton, but a late power-play goal by the Tigers in the first period ignited another loss.
Speaking of the power play, Union has to stop taking so many bad penalties. The Dutchmen have allowed seven power-play goals in 32 short-handed situations, while their power play is just 2-for-30.
“We have to stop taking so many poor penalties,” Union coach Nate Leaman said. “We’re taking a lot of selfish, poor penalties, right now. When you do that, you’re using way too much energy on the kill, and you’re not going to win games when you take all those poor penalties. That’s the first thing that’s got to change.”
Union will have some time to contemplate its slow ECACH start. The Dutchmen are off until Nov. 28 against Army. Their next league game isn’t until Dec. 5 at Brown.
– – –
I don’t think Princeton coach Guy Gadowsky should be suspended for his actions after the second period of Saturday’s game. However, I believe the league should warn him and the rest of the coaches that there will be consequences if you speak to a player like Gadowsky did to Dutchmen defenseman Mike Harr, even if you think you were in the right to do so.
Gadowsky was upset at Harr after Harr shoved his stick blade under the skates of Princeton forward Matt Arhontas and knocking him down along the right-wing boards in the Union zone at the end of the second period. Harr went after Arhontas after he fired a shot on goalie Corey Milan after the buzzed sounded to end the period. To be fair, Arhontas was coming in on a breakaway, and it appeared the shot came a split-second after the buzzer.
An enraged Gadowsky ran to the door of the Princeton bench and screamed, not once, but twice, “That was a chicken-[bleep] move!”
Gadowsky had a right to be angry. He didn’t have the right to go after an opposing student-athlete like that, especially when everyone, including members of the Schenectady Youth Hockey Association’s Learn to Skate and Learn to Play Hockey programs were there.
If you haven’t seen the video of me asking Gadowsky and Leaman about that, click here. It will be at the end.
– – –
There was an item that I had to cut out of my College Hockey Notebook on Friday concerning a new Dutchmen recruit for next season.
They have added a defenseman Ryan Forgaard of the U.S. Hockey League’s Tri-City Storm has given a verbal commitment to the team. The 5-foot-11, 172-pound Forgaard is from Faribault, Minn., the same hometown as Union assistant coach Ben Barr. Forgaard has five assists in 13 games this season.
Last year, Forgaard played for the British Columbia Junior Hockey League’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks, where he was teammates with current Union freshman forwards Randy Hanagan and Kelly Zajac. Forgaard had a goal and 10 assists in 50 games.
– – –
Team of the weekend: Quinnipiac. The Bobcats found a cure for their scoring woes. After getting shut out in their first three league games, all at home, the Bobcats came into the Capital Region and scored 11 goals.
Senior forward Bryan Leitch was named ECACH player of the week Monday after collecting seven points. He had three goals and two assists in Friday’s 6-3 win over Union, and followed that up with two assists in Saturday’s 5-1 triumph overRPI..
“I knew it was going to come,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said after Friday’s game. “We’ve scored a lot of goals [over the years]. Over the last 10 years of college hockey, we’re third in power-play goals and third in power-play percentage. We score goals. That’s what we’ve always done.”
The other league honors went to goalies. Princeton’s Zane Kalemba won goalie of the week after stopping 81 of 83 shots in three games. He had 37 saves in a 3-0 win over Quinnipiac last Tuesday, and allowed just a goal each to RPIand Union over the weekend.
Harvard freshman goalie Matt Hoyle was named rookie of the week. He had 52 saves in wins over Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Hoyle, who is making Crimson fans quickly forget about Kyle Richter, has 29 saves in posting his first career shutout, a 1-0 win over St. Lawrence on Saturday.
– – –
The polls are out, and Boston University’s stay at No. 1 lasted a week.
The Terriers’ 5-1 loss to Massachusetts dropped them one spot to No. 2 in the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports top 20 and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine. Taking over is Minnesota.
Here are the polls:
USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I Men's Poll
Minneapolis, Minn./November 17, 2008
Team (First Place) Record Pts Last Week
1 Minnesota (42) 6-0-4 990 2
2 Boston University ( 4) 7-2-0 943 1
3 Colorado College ( 2) 7-2-3 863 3
4 Boston College 6-3-1 824 5
5 Notre Dame 7-3-1 715 9
6 Northeastern 7-2-2 701 7
7 Miami 6-3-3 666 10
8 Princeton ( 1) 5-1-0 616 12
9 Michigan 8-4-0 581 8
10 Denver 6-4-1 566 4
11 Minnesota State 5-3-2 480 11
12 Air Force ( 1) 10-0-0 469 13
13 New Hampshire 4-4-3 447 6
14 Cornell 2-0-2 385 14
15 Vermont 5-3-2 239 15
16 Massachusetts 5-3-1 166 20
17 St. Cloud State 7-4-0 125 NR
18 Harvard 4-2-0 124 NR
19 Nebraska-Omaha 7-2-1 114 NR
20 North Dakota 4-6-0 91 18
Others Receiving Votes: Dartmouth 79, Mass.-Lowell 66,
Alaska-Anchorage 37, Ferris State 37, Clarkson 35,
Yale 34, Maine 33, Michigan State 25, Wisconsin 16,
Minnesota-Duluth 7, Lake Superior 6, Bemidji State 5,
Colgate 5, Ohio State 5, St. Lawrence 5.
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine
Men's College Hockey Poll
1. Rank School Last Week's Ranking 2008-09 Record Weeks in Top 15
1 University of Minnesota, 510 (34) 2 6-0-4 8
2 Boston University, 463 1 7-2-0 8
3 Colorado College, 430 3 7-2-3 8
4 Boston College, 394 6 6-3-1 8
5 Northeastern University, 318 7 7-2-2 5
6 University of Notre Dame, 309 9 7-3-1 8
7 Miami (Ohio) University, 276 10 6-3-3 8
8 Princeton University, 250 11 5-1-0 7
9 University of Michigan, 241 8 8-4-0 8
10 University of Denver, 222 4 6-4-1 8
11 Minnesota State University, 147 12 5-3-2 6
12 U.S. Air Force Academy, 139 13 10-0-0 3
13 University of New Hampshire, 138 5 4-4-3 8
14 Cornell University, 118 14 2-0-2 2
15 University of North Dakota, 19 NR 4-6-0 5
Others receiving votes: University of Massachusetts, 17; Harvard University, 16; University of Nebraska Omaha, 16; University of Maine, 13; University of Vermont, 13; Yale University, 13; University of Massachusetts Lowell, 6; Dartmouth College, 3; Ferris State University, 3; St. Cloud State University, 3; University of Wisconsin, 3.
That’s it for today. As always, I look forward to your comments.
