Monday, October 3, 2011

Top Ice Breaker Storylines

Top Ice Breaker Storylines

The 2011 Ice Breaker Tournament begins Friday in Grand Forks, N.D., marking what has become the traditional start to the college hockey season.

With four elite programs in the field – Air Force, Boston College, Michigan State and North Dakota – there is no shortage of great storylines entering the weekend. Here are a few of our favorites:

Elite programs – The four schools at the 2011 Ice Breaker have combined for 26 NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 10 years. Boston College and Michigan State have each won a national championship in that time while North Dakota has made five Frozen Four appearances. This season’s two preseason polls both peg North Dakota at third in the country and Boston College at No. 5.

Home run – The Ice Breaker returns to campus in 2011 after Boston University won last year’s event at neutral-site St. Louis. Each of the last three times the event was held at a team’s home arena, the home team won the tournament. Only once in the first seven years of the tournament did the host team win, but in five of the last six it has.

New face – You’d have a hard time bringing together four college hockey programs this fall without having a new face behind at least one bench. Michigan State’s Tom Anastos is one of nine new head coaches around college hockey, not including Penn State (which will begin play next season with Guy Gadowsky at the helm). In his previous role as commissioner of the CCHA, Anastos played a role in awarding the 2011 Ice Breaker to Grand Forks.

Starting strong – Dozens of freshmen will get their first taste of college hockey at the Ice Breaker, including dynamic offensive prospects like Rocco Grimaldi (North Dakota) and John Gaudreau (Boston College). Among the current NHLers who started their college hockey career in the Ice Breaker: Brooks Orpik (Boston College), Erik Cole (Clarkson), Willie Mitchell (Clarkson), Drew Miller (Michigan State), Tom Gilbert (Wisconsin), Mike Komisarek (Michigan), Brian Boyle (Boston College), Ben Bishop (Maine) and Jason Gregoire (North Dakota).

Future stars – Boston College, Michigan State and North Dakota combined to place 48 alums in the National Hockey League last season. In all, former college hockey players comprised 30% of the NHL in 2010-11. Among the best bets to play at that level from this year’s tournament are Boston College’s Chris Kreider (ranked second among New York Rangers prospects by The Hockey News) and Brian Dumoulin (fourth among Carolina prospects) and North Dakota’s Derek Forbort (second among Los Angeles prospects) and Danny Kristo (fourth among Montreal prospects).

Big shoes – As all four teams enter 2011-12 they face the task of replacing their leading scorer from last season. Air Force (Jacques Lamoureux), Boston College (Cam Atkinson) and North Dakota (Matt Frattin) all lost Hobey Baker Award finalists, while Michigan State’s top scorer signed with the Ottawa Senators (Derek Grant). A lot of talent remains but some big minutes need to be filled, especially at forward. Frattin (Toronto) and Atkinson (Columbus) both are among the final contenders for spots on their NHL teams’ opening-night rosters.

Experienced D – The best players on the ice, particularly among the visiting teams, may be defensemen. Michigan State’s Torey Krug and Air Force’s Scott Mathis are both back for their second years as team captains after earning first-team all-league honors last year. Boston College defenseman Brian Dumoulin may have been the nation’s best at his position as a sophomore last year.

Sweet 15 – The Ice Breaker celebrates its 15th anniversary this season and welcomes back Michigan State, which beat Boston University to win the inaugural event at Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wis., in 1997. Goaltender Chad Alban and center Mike York led the Spartans at that event, which also featured current NHLers Chris Clark (Clarkson), Shawn Horcoff (Michigan State), Steve Reinprecht (Wisconsin) and recently retired Chris Drury (Boston University).

Con(ference) game – Michigan State (1997) and Nebraska-Omaha (2009, then in the CCHA) are the only two schools to win the Ice Breaker from outside either the WCHA or Hockey East.

College Hockey, Inc.’s role – Entering its second full season in operation, College Hockey, Inc. is a non-profit marketing and informational arm of NCAA Division I men’s hockey. Executive Director Paul Kelly and his staff promote college hockey to potential fans and players. Holding top-notch events like the Ice Breaker help raise college hockey’s profile at an important time of year, while programs build momentum with the start of the season. College Hockey, Inc. also works at the grassroots level, hosting dozens of informational sessions each year for prospective players including a series of Reebok Collegiate Hockey Summits.