By Nate Ewell

A three-game winning streak has propelled Canisius to second place in Atlantic Hockey, though this weekend’s visitor, Bentley, is just two points behind with a game in hand. The Golden Griffins’ top offensive defenseman, Chris Rumble (Seattle, Wash./Wenatchee-NAHL), has fought off much bigger challenges. The leading scorer among defensemen in Atlantic Hockey games with 13 points in 15 games, Rumble is also a leukemia survivor who didn’t play hockey the year prior to enrolling at Canisius while undergoing treatment at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The son of former NHLer and current QMJHL assistant coach Darren Rumble, Chris has points in each game of Canisius’s win streak. | CNN from last Feb.: What doesn’t kill you …

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From the NCAA: Updated Men’s and Women’s Frozen Four Record Book

Five More Storylines No One Should be Without

Cornwall trio reunited at Colgate – After a series of injuries contributed to a three-game losing streak to end the first half of the season, Colgate has put together four straight wins since Christmas, tied for the nation’s longest active winning streak. The Raiders have been bolstered by reuniting the first line of twins Tyson and Tylor Spink (Williamstown, Ont./Cornwall-CCHL) with former junior teammate Kyle Baun (Toronto, Ont./Cornwall-CCHL). That trio has five goals and seven assists in the last four games. Tylor Spink missed the season’s first 15 games, one of the injuries that helped lead to the team’s 9-6-1 start. Now they head to Rensselaer and Union having climbed to third in ECAC Hockey and looking much like the team picked to finish fifth nationally in the preseason polls.

Hildebrand leads MSU to PA – Michigan State’s lone Pennsylvania native, junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand (Butler, Pa./Cedar Rapids-USHL), leads the Spartans to a series at Penn State and the reigning team MVP has been playing his best lately. Hildebrand posted a .967 save percentage in the Great Lakes Invitational and was perfect in one period of work vs. the U.S. NTDP last Friday. Hildebrand comes from an athletic family – his father played lacrosse and mother is a marathon runner – but he’s making a name for himself on ice.
Saturday’s game is on ESPNU and TSN2

New star emerges at BC – Only two teams nationally lost a higher percentage of their goal scoring than Boston College (57.3%, trailing Wisconsin and Rensselaer), but the Eagles are on a 5-0-2 run thanks in part to the emergence of sophomore Chris Calnan (Norwell, Mass./South Shore-EJHL/CHI). Calnan – who scored four goals as a freshman in a third- and fourth-line role – has more than doubled that total already and leads BC with 10 goals. His three multiple-goal games, including a pair Saturday vs. Northeastern, is just one shy of the national lead. Calnan and the Eagles have a rematch with archrival BU Friday night after losing to the Terriers, 5-3, on Nov. 7.
Friday’s game is on NESN

Basara builds on freshman success – A year after securing WCHA All-Rookie Team honors, Alaska’s Marcus Basara (Port Moody, B.C./West Kelowna-BCHL) has shown an even hotter scoring touch this season. His first career shorthanded goal on Saturday gave him a team-leading 10 goals on the year and sent the Nanooks into this weekend’s Governor’s Cup series against Alaska Anchorage with a tie at No. 7 Bowling Green. The speedy Basara attended Washington Capitals development camp in the summer and teams with junior Tyler Morley (Burnaby, B.C./Surrey-BCHL) to give UAF a potent 1-2 scoring punch.

UMD’s homecoming – Minnesota Duluth returns home for the first time in more than a month, a welcome homecoming for a first-line duo that grew up with UMD season tickets. Sophomore Dominic Toninato (Duluth, Minn./Fargo-USHL) and senior Adam Krause (Hermantown, Minn./Sioux City-USHL) team with Alex Iafallo (Eden, N.Y./Fargo-USHL) on the Bulldogs’ No. 1 line. Toninato is a heralded local recruit who has lived up to that potential with 13 goals already this season, just two off the national lead. Krause is a natural leader, a two-year captain who has spent most of his UMD career on checking lines, but has complemented the Bulldogs’ top scorers despite missing eight games with a broken wrist.

NHL Note of the Week

Each of the last three NHL First Stars of the Week have been former NCAA stars (David Backes, T.J. Oshie and Johnny Gaudreau).

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

Minnesota State – the fifth team to hold the No. 1 ranking this season – is in the top spot for the first time in program history … There were 10 shutouts last weekend, all by freshman or sophomore goaltenders; meanwhile, 28 players had multiple-goal games, and 21 were from juniors or seniors … Bemidji State’s seven-game unbeaten streak (4-0-3) is its longest since the start of the 2009-10 season (7-0-1) … Union’s Daniel Ciampini has a seven-game goal-scoring streak, the longest by a Division I player since Ohio State’s Ryan Dzingel had an eight-gamer Nov. 1 to Dec. 28, 2013.