January
24, 2008
Princeton
and Harvard Back In Action
By
Joe Gladziszewski
Princeton and Harvard headed into their respective
annual exam breaks heading in different directions. The
Tigers won their last five games before the break, four
of which came in ECAC Hockey play, and vaulted into first
place with 16 points from 12 games (8-4-0). Harvard is winless
in its last nine games and earned just one point in four
ECAC Hockey games earlier this month.
ECAC
Hockey Notebook
Harvard
goalie Kyle Richter has been one of the bright spots
for the Crimson.
Taking exams at Harvard and Princeton is no
easy task. How easily they handle the return to competitive
hockey in the next few weeks will determine how successful
their seasons can be. Harvard gets back on the ice at Dartmouth
on Saturday, while Princeton has a game at Robert Morris
on Tuesday.
We'll start with Princeton. It's already been
one of the best seasons in recent history for Princeton,
as the Tigers won their 10th game of the year on Jan. 12,
the earliest that it has achieved that win milestone since
the 1998-99 season. That season, you may recall, ended with
Princeton's last trip to the ECAC Hockey championship weekend
(then held in Lake Placid, N.Y.).
The Tigers have been led by a trio of forwards
that rank near the top of the league's scoring leaders in
Lee Jubinville (23 points), Brett Wilson (19), and Cam MacIntyre
(18). That trio played on a line for most of the year, but
the next highest scorer on the team is senior defenseman
Mike Moore with nine points.
Increasing its scoring depth may be a benefit
for the Tigers as they return to league play, where many
teams have shown an ability to stifle a top-scoring line
on a nightly basis. Princeton's last two games before the
exam break saw Jubinville and Wilson joined on a line by
Mike Kramer and they combined to total 16 points in wins
over Yale and Brown. It didn't slow MacIntyre down either,
as he had a point in each game playing with Dan Bartlett
and Mark Magnowski.
Harvard, on the other hand, is looking to
get back into the win column for the first time since Dec.
1. That game was a 1-0 victory at Bright Hockey Center over
Dartmouth highlighted by a 27-save shutout from Kyle Richter
and a game-winning short-handed goal by Mike Taylor with
10 minutes left in the third period. That improved the Crimson's
record to 6-2-1, but Harvard has gone 0-7-2 in nine games
since then.
The Crimson can take some encouragement from
a pair of recent performances in which they rallied from
a two-goal deficit to earn a tie against nationally ranked
Quinnipiac and played a close game against Clarkson before
the Golden Knights scored a late goal to get a win. Games
against Dartmouth and Brown precede the Beanpot, which Harvard
begins with a semifinal game against Northeastern.
SEEN AND HEARD IN ECAC HOCKEY
While You Were Away: Which
teams benefited most by Princeton and Harvard being on hiatus?
Union and Clarkson. The Dutchmen earned four points and
moved into a tie for fourth place, while Clarkson played
its two games in hand over Princeton and Quinnipiac and
moved ahead of both of those teams into first.
This coming weekend will see additional leveling
of the schedule as every team in the league will have played
at least 12 of their 22 ECAC Hockey contests. Clarkson,
Princeton, and Quinnipiac continue to lead the way, but
just four points in the standings separate the next seven
teams entering this weekend's action.
Don't Forget About Barr:
Last week's ECAC Hockey Notebook cited a note published
in the league's weekly release regarding Travis Vermeulen
of St. Lawrence scoring two short-handed goals in the same
period against Dartmouth on Jan. 13. That note identified
Vermeulen as the first player to ever score two short-handed
goals in the same period in ECAC Hockey history.
That is likely true for regular-season games,
but Rensselaer's Ben Barr scored two
short-handed goals in the same shift during the third
period of a playoff game between RPI and Union in the 2002-03
season. Those two goals turned a 2-1 RPI deficit into a
3-2 Engineer lead. Rensselaer held on for the victory in
that game and clinched the first-round series win at Union,
advancing to a quarterfinal series at Cornell.
Thanks to a reader in Rochester, N.Y. who
attended that game for pointing this out.
Great Weekend Getaway
Union
at St. Lawrence (Fri.)
RPI at St. Lawrence (Sat.)
Four points separate these three teams as they currently
stand in a tightly bunched middle of the ECAC Hockey
standings. The Saints return home for the first time
since a 4-2 win over Clarkson on Dec. 1.
While You're There: St. Lawrence
athletics hosts a couple of afternoon events –
an indoor track and field meet and women's and men's
basketball games on campus.
Stick
Salute
Dartmouth needed something to do while
Harvard was on break, so they went out and picked
up a couple of wins against Hockey East foes. Mike
Devine made 85 saves over two games in victories against
Boston University and New Hampshire, and was named
INCH
National Player of the Week.
Bench
Minor
After being swept by Union last weekend,
Rensselaer's losing streak now stands at nine games.
If you're looking for somewhere to point the blame,
look no further than the "goals for" column
of the standings. RPI has scored just three goals
in its last four games and nine goals in its last
eight.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM
OF THE BAG
• During Thursday's chat at ESPN.com,
one question that we didn't get to answer was to name an
All-ECAC Hockey team at this point in the season, so I'll
do that here ... but will omit any players that appeared
on the preseason media and coaches all-league teams. At
forward I'll take J.T. Wyman (Dartmouth), Lee Jubinville
(Princeton), and Brock McBride (St. Lawrence). On defense,
Dan Henningson (Quinnipiac) and Grant Clitsome (Clarkson),
and for goalie I'll go with Ben Scrivens (Cornell).
• ECAC Hockey announced earlier this
week that every single one of the league's playoff contests
will be broadcast online by B2 Networks.
• Harvard freshman Michael Biega shares
the team scoring lead with Jon Pelle as each has 12 points
on the season. The last freshman to lead Harvard in scoring
was Peter Ciavaglia in the 1987-88 season.
• Eleven different players recorded
at least one point in Quinnipiac's 5-2 win over Holy Cross
last weekend, as the Bobcats scored two goals in the second
period and two in the third to get the win. The Bobcats
wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule this
week when they host Niagara on Friday and Saturday.
• Clarkson's win at Cornell on Sunday
was its first regular-season win at Lynah Rink since the
1998-99 season and snapped an overall five-game winless
streak (0-3-2) against the Big Red.
• Devin Timberlake, a sophomore at Brown,
has been a bright spot for the Bears. He has a four-game
point streak and leads the team with five goals on the year.
He has eight points this season after totaling 11 points
in his freshman year.
• Jesse Winchester scored the game-tying
goal in the third period of Colgate's 1-1 draw with Clarkson
last weekend, and it was the 100th point of his collegiate
career. He went on to add a short-handed goal in a win over
St. Lawrence and earned ECAC Hockey Player of the Week recognition.
• Topher Scott has been a talented offensive
threat throughout his Cornell career, but his two-goal game
against Clarkson on Sunday was the first of his collegiate
career, spanning 118 games.
• Yale picked up a split at Alabama-Huntsville,
as freshman Denny Kearney had a goal and two assists on
the weekend. The Bulldogs also visited the U.S. Space and
Rocket Center in Huntsville.
A variety of sources were utilized in
the compilation of this report. Joe Gladziszewski can be
reached at gladdy@insidecollegehockey.com.
