Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Notes: High Flying UND

North Dakota is clicking entering top-10 series at SCSU, plus much more in this week’s notes.

North Dakota is clicking entering top-10 series at SCSU, plus much more in this week's notes.
Nick Schmaltz, who scored his first two goals of the season last weekend, leads UND into a top-10 showdown at St. Cloud State.

By Nate Ewell

First things first – Boston College, Michigan and North Dakota are the only teams with multiple first-round NHL draft picks on their roster, and UND showed what talents like that can do together with this must-watch highlight reel goal on Friday. Sophomore Nick Schmaltz (Verona, Wisc./Green Bay-USHL/CHI) finished that one off with a primary assist from Brock Boeser (Burnsville, Minn./Waterloo-USHL/VAN). That duo has been together all year, but had their best weekend vs. Miami, combining for 4 goals and 7 assists in the two games. Friday’s game at St. Cloud State is on Fox Sports North+

Must Read/See/Hear Material

The Gazette: Serratore happy to be one of the Falcons to team, uncle coach
St. Cloud Times: Widman helping lead SCSU’s defense
Andover Townsman: How Swede it is
Grand Forks Herald: Despite injury, St. Clair stays in forefront of team
Fox Sports Arizona: Krygier brings NHL pedigree to ASU hockey
Michigan Daily: Berenson: ‘We’re not babying Kyle Connor’
California Rubber: No sophomore slump for UMass’ Kravchenko
Rink Rap: Charlie Morrison, Union coaching icon

Five More Storylines No One Should be Without

Latest PSU sharpshooter – Penn State has been among the national leaders in shots on goal since joining Division I and head coach Guy Gadowsky appears to have another sharpshooter in freshman Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo./Tri-City-USHL). Berger leads all freshmen with 8 goals and ranks fourth in shots with 37, trailing only first-round NHL picks Boeser and Colin White (Hanover, Mass./U.S. NTDP/OTT) and teammate Vince Pedrie (Rochester, Minn./Bloomington-USHL). Berger – whose older brother, Jack, played for Gadowsky at Princeton – scored three times in last weekend’s sweep of Sacred Heart that saw the Nittany Lions fire a school record 67 shots on goal Saturday.
Daily Collegian: Berger continues to impress on both sides of the puck

Penn State Shots/Game (National Rank)
2015-16: 47.10 (1st)
2014-15: 39.24 (1st)
2013-14: 35.25 (3rd)
2012-13: 37.85 (1st)

Bentley’s dual threat – Andrew Gladiuk (White Rock, B.C./Nanaimo-BCHL) has proven to be a dual threat for the Bentley Falcons – one of the program’s most prolific scorers on the ice and an outstanding student away from the rink. Gladiuk ranks second among all active players in career goals (60) and third in points (116) after his OT goal Saturday completed a weekend sweep at RIT. A corporate finance and accounting major, he was an Academic All-District selection last year. The British Columbia native stayed near campus this offseason, interning for an accounting firm in Boston while preparing for his senior season.

Most career goals, active players
61 – Jimmy Vesey, Harvard
60 – Andrew Gladiuk, Bentley
55 – Kevin Roy, Northeastern
55 – Bryce Gervais, Minnesota State

Offensive impact at Cornell – Two freshmen are helping fuel Cornell’s 5-1-0 start, with Anthony Angello (Manlius, N.Y./Omaha-USHL/PIT) and Mitch Vanderlaan (Hanwell, N.B./Fort McMurray-AJHL) ranking second and third, respectively, in scoring. Angello’s overtime goal won Saturday’s game at Colgate. No freshman in the last three Big Red classes has cracked double digits in points, and Angello (7 points) and Vanderlaan (6) are more than halfway there. The pair has been centered of late by junior Jeff Kubiak (Tinley Park, Ill./Muskegon-USHL), who has been an offensive revelation himself – Kubiak’s 9 points lead the team and his 3 goals surpass his total from his first two seasons with the Big Red.

O from Oksanen – Senior forward Ahti Oksanen (Kirkkonummi, Finland/Espoo Blues) carries a five-game goal-scoring streak into Boston University’s home showdown with Michigan this week, a run that would have been unfathomable in his first two seasons on campus. Then, the 6-foot-3, 207-pounder was a defenseman on a BU team that missed the NCAA Tournament both seasons. Moved to forward – against Oksanen’s wishes – by head coach David Quinn, he produced 25 goals as a junior on the Terriers’ Frozen Four team and was the nation’s No. 3 returning goal scorer this season. Friday’s game is on ASN & TSN2

Turning point for Mankato? – Offense hasn’t come easily this season for Minnesota State (tied for 51st at 2.08 goals per game), but Saturday’s wild finish could be a turning point. The Mavericks scored twice with an extra attacker and again in overtime to split with in-state rival Minnesota and improve to 6-6-0 on the year (5-1-0 WCHA). Junior defenseman Casey Nelson (Wisconsin Rapids, Wisc./Johnstown-NAHL) set up the first goal in that rally and leads the team with 10 points. Nelson – who followed older brother, Josh, to Mankato – increased his offensive production from 5 points as a rookie to 33 points last year and earned an invitation to Philadelphia Flyers development camp.

NHL Note of the Week

More than half of all NHL players who were not drafted played NCAA hockey (50 of 98 so far this year).

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

Quinnipiac, at 11-0-0, is the only unbeaten and untied team in the nation and has set a school record with 11 consecutive wins … Ten teams have freshmen leading them (or tied for the lead) in scoring, including top-12 teams Boston College, Yale and Michigan … No. 7 St. Cloud State hosts No. 4 North Dakota this weekend in a series featuring the top two NCHC teams in scoring offense, scoring defense and scoring margin, as well as the top two stars of the week on NCAA.com (Joey Benik and Nick Schmaltz).