Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Notes: Clarkson’s Big Winner

Allan McPherson’s late heroics, a Huntsville homecoming, the battle of Illinois and more in this week’s notebook.

Notes: Clarkson's Big Winner
Allan McPherson scored the winner Saturday as Clarkson matched its win total from last season (9).

By Nate Ewell

A real winner – Late-game heroics from Allan McPherson (Kinburn, Ont./Kanata Stallions-CCHL) lifted Clarkson to a win at Harvard Saturday and a 9-2-1 record (3-1-0 ECAC Hockey) heading into a home series with Cornell and Colgate this weekend. The power-play goal was McPherson’s 11th career game-winner, just three behind the active career leaders (Boston College’s Johnny Gaudreau and Minnesota’s Kyle Rau). Gaudreau and Rau’s teams, it’s worth noting, have won almost twice as many games in the last two-plus seasons, but fortunes seem to be turning for the Golden Knights. Picked last in the preseason ECAC Hockey poll, Clarkson is 9-2-1, ranked 11th nationally and tied for second in the conference.

Must Read/See/Hear Material

Watertown Daily Times: Clarkson goalies have long history
The Pipeline Show: NCAA leading scorer Greg Carey (.mp3)
New Haven Register: Anas is Bobcats’ light heavyweight
Hartford Courant: Quinnipiac’s Sam Anas
The Gazette: Rabid fans keep CC-DU rivalry alive
St. Cloud Times: SCSU goalie sets goals for Army career
Bemidji Pioneer: Hard-working Hartmann
Daily Gazette: Early-season ECACH analysis
NHL.com: Lucia coaches against son in return to alma mater | Video
SBN College Hockey: Breaking Down Johnny Gaudreau’s Amazing Assist

Five More Notes No One Should Be Without

Huntsville homecoming – Huntsville, Alabama, is the hockey capital of the south not just because it is home to the UAH Chargers. That team’s presence, however, has helped fuel a thriving youth hockey community that has produced players like St. Cloud State’s Nic Dowd (Huntsville, Ala./Indiana Ice-USHL/LA draft). Dowd returns home this weekend as the senior leading scorer (4-3—7 in 8 GP) and his Huskies visit UAH for two games.

AIC’s Calgary connection – American International is among the top scoring teams in the nation (4.00 goals per game), with an offense that produced a wild 8-7 win at Bentley Friday. Leading the way is a healthy contingent from Alberta, a group that makes up four of the team’s top six scorers. Alexander MacMillan (Calgary, Alta./Calgary Mustangs-AJHL), David Norris (Calgary, Alta./Calgary Mustangs-AJHL), Blake Peake (Lethbridge, Alta./Battlefords North Stars-SJHL) and Brandon Fagerheim (Calgary, Alta./St. Albert Steel-AJHL) all had points in the big win. Peake, MacMillan and Fagerheim are the team’s top three centers and all had at least a goal in the game. AIC takes its 2-0-0 Atlantic Hockey record to Holy Cross Friday.

Kero the hero – Michigan Tech’s weekend sweep of Michigan State not only tripled the Huskies’ win total for the season (3-6-1, 1-1-0 WCHA), but witnessed some encouraging signs of life from an offense that had averaged only 1.75 goals per game through 8 contests. A big part was the play of junior Tanner Kero (Hancock, Mich./Fargo Force-USHL), who posted 1-1—2 in each game after being held to one assist in the first eight games. The local kid and lifelong Husky fan who is one of 10 children in his family had been getting chances – he leads the team with 27 shots on goal – and finally cashed in this weekend.

Battle of Illinois? – Illinois doesn’t have a Division I hockey program, but there’s no shortage of talented players in the state. The 59 Division I players from Illinois rank it sixth among all states and first for those without a team. Twelve Illinois natives will take the ice this weekend as Miami (8 IL natives) hosts Wisconsin (4), and only Notre Dame (8) has mined the Land of Lincoln for talent as well as those two teams. Both have multiple recruits committed from Illinois for the future as well.

Balancing Huskies – Northeastern hits mid-November just three wins shy of its season total from last year (9; currently 6-3-0) and a big part is due to its balanced offense. It’s no longer just the Kevin Roy Show (Lac-Beauport, Quebec/Lincoln Stars-USHL/ANA draft) at Matthews Arena, although he leads the team with 8 goals in 9 games. Several freshmen are chipping in, most notably Mike Szmatula (Commerce, Mich./Dubuque Fighting Saints-USHL). He leads the team with 15 points, including a point in every game. Minnesota’s Sam Warning (Chesterfield, Mo./Cedar Rapids-USHL) and Hudson Fasching (Burnsville, Minn./U.S. NTDP/LA draft) and Wisconsin’s Nic Kerdiles (Irvine, Calif./U.S. NTDP/ANA draft) are the only other players with at least 6 GP and a point in every game.

NHL Note of the Week

Three of the top six rookie scorers in the NHL are former college players (Mark Arcobello, Alex Chiasson and Torey Krug).

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

Canisius head coach Dave Smith (Ohio State ’92) visits his alma mater this weekend as the Golden Griffins face the Buckeyes in a two-game series … Michigan Tech is 8-2-9 in overtime under head coach Mel Pearson … Rensselaer’s Ryan Haggerty (Stamford, Conn./U.S. NTDP) has four multiple-goal games; no other player has more than two … College hockey’s early signing period began Wednesday.