Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Story Lines: Shutout King

Story Lines is a regular look at some of the hot topics and storylines to watch in Division I men’s college hockey.

First Line: Shutout King

RIT’s Shane Madolora recorded his 13th career shutout in Sunday’s Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals against Bentley, setting the Tigers’ career shutout record. More importantly, he kept his team’s playoff hopes alive and helped the Tigers advance to face Niagara – and head coach Dave Burkholder, the former RIT goaltender who previously held that shutout mark. Madolora and his teammates should have a home-ice advantage at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena, which will host Atlantic Hockey’s semifinals (Friday) and championship (Saturday). Either RIT or Air Force – which faces Mercyhurst in the other semifinal – has claimed the Atlantic Hockey title each year since 2007, when the two teams joined the conference.

Second Line: European Momentum

Colgate has enjoyed a remarkable improvement in 2011-12, but to hear the Raiders tell it, the process began around this time last year. Despite posting just 11 wins in 2010-11, four came in the ECAC Hockey tournament, meaning that this is Colgate’s second straight trip to Atlantic City for the conference championships. The Raiders took the momentum from that strong finish overseas to start this season with a trip to Italy, and they haven’t looked back. Hobey Baker candidate Austin Smith gets most of the headlines, and rightfully so (36 goals in 37 GP), but it’s no one-man show. In fact, Smith’s center, Chris Wagner, has more goals (7) and points (14) in the last nine games than Smith does (6, 11), including five goals in last weekend’s series win against Quinnipiac.

Third Line: Great Second Half in Grand Forks

Renowned for its second-half surges in recent years, North Dakota may have authored its best turnaround yet in 2011-12 as it heads into the WCHA Final Five. Head coach Dave Hakstol’s team, which stood 3-7-1 at Thanksgiving, has posted a 13-4-2 record since Christmas and solidified its NCAA Tournament hopes. While UND has a reputation for playing well in the second half, it has done so this year in the face of decimating injuries that has left the team dressing only 17 skaters. The remarkable first line of Brock Nelson, Corban Knight and Danny Kristo has led the way, but emerging offensive support from players like Carter Rowney and Michael Parks have helped fuel the recent success.

Fourth Line: Immediate Impact

Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College’s top scorer each of the past two seasons, is poised to suit up for the St. Louis Blues, one of the first players to ink an NHL deal at the conclusion of this season. Six have signed so far, with many more to come. Worth watching is how many are judged NHL-ready, like Schwartz. Last year Stephane Da Costa and Matt Frattin moved immediately into NHL lineups. Expect a few other current college players to join Schwartz and potentially impacting the NHL playoff race.

Players between 29 and 32 points atop Michigan’s scoring chart, as Alex Guptill, David Wohlberg, Lee Moffie, A.J. Treais and Chris Brown lead a balanced attack.

Quoteable

“Everyone’s so positive. We like each other. We work together. We’ve made mistakes and lost some games. For the senior class, it’s been lessons learned.” — Maine senior Spencer Abbott on his growth – and the Black Bears’ – as they head into Friday’s semifinal vs. Boston University