To say it was a whacky weekend in ECAC Hockey is like trying to understand how the Arizona Cardinals are playing in the Super Bowl. No matter how much you analyze it, nothing makes sense.
— For starters, there were three overtime games played in the North Country, two involving RPI. The Engineers rally from 5-3 down to take a 6-5 lead with 48.8 seconds left in the third period, then see the Saints tie it with 10.9 seconds to go and then win it, 7-6, on Chase Polacek's goal nine seconds into OT.
There were six goals scored in the final 8:17 of the game. Even more amazing that there were over twice as many goals scored (13) and penalties called (six).
Then there are Clarkson's two OT wins. The Golden Knights blew a 3-1 first-period lead to Union on Friday, and then pull out a 4-3 win on Shea Guthrie's goal. Then against RPI on Saturday, Clarkson overcame a 3-2 deficit to win, 4-3. Guthrie tied it 4:36 left in regulation, and the he got the game-winner at 1:51 of OT.
Even crazier for Clarkson is that it has won its last four games by the same 4-3 score. The last three of those games have gone OT.
— Defense took a holiday at Quinnipiac. The Bobcats split a two-game series with Robert Morris, winning Friday, 5-4, and then dropping an 8-5 decision Saturday. In that game, the Bobcats allowed five third-period goals.
— Cornell's hopes of an unbeaten ECACH season went down the tubes with a 4-3 loss to Yale on Friday at Lynah Rink.
— It appeared that Yale was too satisfied with that win. The next night at Colgate, the Bulldogs were down, 4-0, to a Raiders' team that lost to Brown the previous night.
With nothing to lose, Yale coach Keith Allain pulled goalie Alec Richards for an extra skater — with 12:42 left. Five seconds later, the move paid off when Thomas Dignard scored.
The comeback was on. Broc Little scored a power-play goal at 10:45. Dignard got a short-handed goal 63 seconds later. Then, with 2:03 left, Sean Backman tied it. Keith Limbert got the game-winner a minute into OT, capping an improbable come-from-behind win.
“This proves that no matter what the situation we are facing, we have the ability to win,” said Yale captain Matt Nelson. “This win sets us on the track we need to be on for the rest of the season.”
Read the fine print
When I got Union's line sheet for Saturday's game against St. Lawrence, I noticed that Dutchmen coach Nate Leaman had broken up his top line of center Jason Walters, left wing Adam Presizniuk and right wing Mario Valery-Trabucco. Valery-Trabucco was dropped to the second line, centered by Kelly Zajac and with Matt Cook on the left wing. Stephane Boileau was moved up to the top line.
Or so I thought. That is what I had on my pregame blog.
But when the starting lineups were announced, it was Walters, Presizniuk and Valery-Trabucco together. I sent a text message to Union hockey sports information director Kevin Zalaznik, who was across the ice, about it. He replied, "Lines subject to change."
And it is on the sheet. In small print, but, nonetheless, on the sheet.
I think I will put that on my pregame blogs from now on, so I don't look bad (go ahead, insert your own comments about me looking bad).
Name the line
I've been trying to come up with a good name for the Walters/Presizniuk/Valery-Trabucco line. All I can come up with is radio call letters "WPVT" because they deliver all the points, all the time.
Weak, I know. But if you would hear me say it in my best radio DJ voice, it might sound better.
Got any suggestions? If so, post them in the comment section.
Daily Gazette ECAC Hockey team of the week — Yale
Handing Cornell it's first league loss put Yale in good position to win this award for the first time this season. But pulling off the miracle win at Colgate on Saturday cemented it.
“This team never stopped believing they could do it,” Allain said after the Colgate win, although he could be saying it for this honor, too. “It’s nice to see them get rewarded for that effort.”
It was a nice bounce-back weekend for the Bulldogs, who lost to Clarkson and tied St. Lawrence at home last weekend.
Road trippin'
This doesn't have anything to do with college hockey, but it will give you a little insight to what I like to do when I am traveling.
I was listening to my Sirius XM radio to and from the North Country. While my passion is sports, I love to listen to music. I was a college DJ, and programmed the AM and FM stations at York College of Pennsylvania, and served as the station general manager the second semester of my senior year in 1985.
So, I was listening to XM channel 7 on the way home Sunday, and an "American Top 40" show was airing from 1971. The exact date wasn't mentioned, but I'm guessing it may have been in the early part of that year.
To hear some of the songs in that countdown blew my mind. One moment, Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" was playing. Then, it was Ray Price's "For the Good Times. The Partridge Family came on with "I Think I Love You." And to cap off the craziness of the list, Perry Como sang "It's Impossible."
A very eclectic list.
The polls
Notre Dame remains on top in the polls.
USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I Men's Poll
Team (First Place) Record Pts Last Week
1 Notre Dame (37) 19-3-3 987 1
2 Boston University (13) 18-5-1 963 2
3 Northeastern 17-5-2 867 5
4 Cornell 14-2-3 831 3
5 Minnesota 12-5-5 791 6
6 Vermont 14-5-4 716 7
7 Denver 15-7-3 696 4
8 Michigan 18-8-0 692 8
9 Princeton 13-5-0 582 9
10 Miami 14-8-4 553 10
11 Boston College 11-8-3 450 14
12 North Dakota 15-10-3 432 15
13 New Hampshire 11-8-4 353 11
14 Ohio State 16-7-3 347 12
15 Wisconsin 13-10-3 279 16
16 Minnesota-Duluth 13-7-6 271 17
17 Colorado College 13-9-6 244 13
18 Yale 13-5-1 158 NR
19 Air Force 17-6-1 97 20
20 Dartmouth 10-7-2 67 18
Others Receiving Votes: St. Cloud State 42, Nebraska-Omaha 24, RIT 23, Alaska 17, Minnesota State 5, Massachusetts 4, Quinnipiac 4, St. Lawrence 4, Niagara 1.
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses)
Rank School Last Week's Ranking 2008-09 Record Weeks in Top 15
1 University of Notre Dame, 497 (21) 1 19-3-3 16
2 Boston University, 489 (13) 2 18-5-1 16
3 Northeastern University, 421 5 17-5-2 13
4 Cornell University, 406 3 14-2-3 10
5 University of Minnesota, 360 6 12-5-5 16
6 University of Vermont, 330 7 14-5-4 11
7 University of Michigan, 322 8 18-8-0 16
8 University of Denver, 284 4 15-7-3 16
9 Princeton University, 241 9 13-5-0 15
10 Miami (Ohio) University,210 10 14-8-4 16
11 Boston College,149 14 11-8-3 16
12 University of North Dakota,127 15 15-10-3 7
13 The Ohio State University, 90 11 16-7-3 4
14 University of New Hampshire,62 12 11-8-4 15
15 University of Minnesota Duluth, 38 NR 13-7-6 1
Others receiving votes: Colorado College, 26; University of Wisconsin, 20; Yale University, 4; U.S. Air Force Academy, 3; Rochester Institute of Technology, 1.
