Thursday, October 24, 2013

Notes: Warning Leads Gophers

An undrafted star stands out among big names in the BC-Minnesota series, plus more.

Notes: Warning Leads Gophers

By Nate Ewell

Undrafted star – Twenty-five NHL draft picks will take the ice this weekend as No. 1 Minnesota hosts No. 5 Boston College, but every one of them is chasing an undrafted NHL free agent out of Chesterfield, Mo., in scoring. Minnesota’s Sam Warning has nine points, three more than any teammate, through four games, including at least a goal in every game. The 5-10, 180-pound Warning and freshman Justin Kloos are the only two undrafted Gophers among the team’s top 10 in scoring.
Friday’s game is on BTN; Sunday’s game is on FS North

Must Read/See/Hear Material
Democrat & Chronicle: Part Time Joe: RIT hockey manager plays key role for Tigers
NHL.com: Compher making a name for himself at Michigan
Bulldogs Unleashed: Episode 1 vs. SLU

Five More Notes No One Should Be Without

Hidden gem at PC – Another battle of top-10 programs takes place in Providence, where the eighth-ranked Friars host No. 4 Miami. Leading the way in PC’s 3-0-0 start is junior Ross Mauermann, who scored the team’s first goal of the year on a shorthanded breakaway and hasn’t slowed since (3g-3a in 3 GP). A Janesville, Wis., native, Mauermann was a recruited walk-on when head coach Nate Leaman and his staff came on board in 2011. He has led the Friars in scoring each of his first two seasons and was awarded a scholarship prior to last year.
Oct. 10 by Mark Divver: PC is lucky Mauermann came calling

Renewing rivalries – College hockey’s conference shakeup this season may have separated some traditional rivals, but it brought some together as well. Two examples are on display in the WCHA, where two programs in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan – are playing league games for the first time since NMU joined the CCHA in 1997. In Alabama-Huntsville a heated rivalry fueled not by geography but by history is renewed. Bemidji State, which split four Division II national championship series with the Chargers between 1994-98, visits for UAH’s first games in the WCHA. The two teams were previously members of College Hockey America from 1999-2010.

Big stages – Two NHL rinks, separated by about 90 miles of I-95, will host six college hockey teams this weekend as the Liberty Invitational takes place at Newark’s Prudential Center and Vermont and Penn State face off at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. Those are two of the eight NHL arenas that will host NCAA games this year with Wells Fargo Center – which sold out for Vermont-Penn State last season – also hosting the Frozen Four in April.
Penn State-Vermont is on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia & New England

Buffalo roaming Colorado – Atlantic Hockey’s reigning champs in the regular season (Niagara) and tournament (Canisius) head west this weekend as each school plays single games vs. Denver and Air Force. The conference matchups at Air Force could prove pivotal in the long run: these teams, along with Mercyhurst, split the 12 first-place votes in the Atlantic Hockey preseason poll. Niagara and Canisius have already met in the Golden Griffins only game of the season thus far, a 6-4 (with an ENG) Niagara win. The Purple Eagles scored the tying and game-winning goals in that game both while shorthanded.

Off and running – Ivy League rules mean those six teams start their seasons later than others in Division I, and the puck drops for them this weekend. Four of them – including defending national champions Yale – are at the aforementioned Liberty Invitational, while Harvard hosts Bentley Saturday. The sixth Ivy, Cornell, visits Nebraska Omaha for two games. Among the talent on display in Omaha are two of the top freshmen forwards in college hockey with UNO’s Jake Guentzel (PIT draft) and the Big Red’s Matt Buckles (FLA draft). They were third- and fourth-round picks, respectively, in June’s NHL Draft.

NHL Note of the Week

Cam Talbot will start in goal for NYR on Thursday and become the second Alabama-Huntsville alum to play in the NHL (Jared Ross). UAH is the 46th school with an alum in the NHL this season.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

Maine hosts Massachusetts in a two-game non-conference series this weekend that pits new Black Bears coach Red Gendron against several players he recruited as an assistant at UMass. Gendron had been with the Minutemen prior to spending the last two seasons with Yale … Union junior Kevin Sullivan, who had 19 assists combined in his first two seasons, leads the nation with 8 assists in 4 GP (5 on the PP) … Only one team is assured of a perfect record after this weekend, as 4-0-0 Lake Superior State is off this weekend. Four other teams have unblemished records, plus the six Ivies … Providence has killed off all 19 of its shorthanded situations … Seven games are on national and regional sports networks this weekend.