Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Notes: OT Hero at UNO

Josh Archibald’s heroics have the Mavericks at 2-0-0 in conference play.

Notes: OT Hero at UNO
Josh Archibald leads UNO with six goals and 10 points through eight games (Photo by Jeff Beiermann/Omaha Athletics).

By Nate Ewell

OT hero – Ten games went to overtime last week and Nebraska Omaha’s Josh Archibald decided 20% of them. His back-to-back OT goals gave the Mavericks a sweep at Denver in their first NCHC series heading into this weekend’s home games against North Dakota. The son of bruising ex-NHLer Jim Archibald – who holds the NCAA record for career penalty minutes – Josh has some grit to his game but does his damage in other ways, with 35 goals in two-plus seasons at UNO and a key role on the penalty kill.
College Hockey News: 128 Seconds.

Must Read/See/Hear Material

St. Cloud Times: Oliver’s skating gets tuned up for SCSU men’s hockey
Wisconsin State Journal: Kerdiles scores with his move to center
Bangor Daily News: Bear necessities pay off for Anthoine
The Republican: Minn. native Wahlin is making a speedy adjustment to UMass hockey

Five More Notes No One Should Be Without

Service oriented – As the nation celebrates Veterans’ Day Monday, one service academy has a busy weekend (Army plays Friday, Sunday and Tuesday) while Air Force is off until next Saturday. Another college hockey player who is serving the country is St. Cloud State goaltender Joe Phillippi, a member of SCSU’s Army ROTC program. While Phillippi hasn’t played for the Huskies this season, he’s plenty busy – he balances the typical demands of a student-athlete with his ROTC duties, including two early morning training sessions and classes each week.

Family faceoff – One of college hockey’s four potential father vs. son matchups takes center stage this weekend in a No. 1 vs. No. 3 series as Minnesota visits Notre Dame. Golden Gopher head coach Don Lucia will coach against his son Mario, a sophomore forward for the Fighting Irish.
Friday’s game is on NBCSN. Don Lucia will preview the game Friday on NHL Network’s NHL Live (5 p.m. ET). From last week, NCAA.com: Family matters

Wydo seeks wins – Robert Morris may be one of five teams still seeking its first win of the season, but there are reasons for optimism on the Pittsburgh campus, beginning with Cody Wydo. The junior, who emerged as one of the nation’s most dangerous goal scorers last season, tallied four times in the Colonials’ 5-4 loss to Penn State. Wydo and company have been in every game in a tough early season slate, including a tie against defending Atlantic Hockey champion Niagara in their lone conference matchup. The next eight games all feature conference foes, starting with home games against Canisius and RIT this weekend.

Senior living – Remember when a senior-laden roster helped lead Quinnipiac to the Frozen Four a year ago? The group is half the size from a year ago (six vs. 12) but no less potent. Once again Quinnipiac has the most prolific senior class in the country, recording 32 points through the team’s 8-1-0 start. Last year’s group led the nation with 180 points on the year (though it should be noted that total included Jordan Samuels-Thomas, an academic senior who returned for his fourth year of eligibility this year).

Buzzing Bulldog – Ferris State enters its first home WCHA series against conference-leading Bemidji State fueled by a seemingly unlikely source. Junior forward Justin Buzzeo has points in all but one game this season and has already matched his 2012-13 goal total with a team-leading 5. The Windsor, Ontario, native who spent two seasons in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League leads all WCHA players with 1.43 points per game.

NHL Note of the Week

42 of 59 Division I schools had alums play in the NHL last Saturday night alone. Check out our infographic for more details from that night in the NHL.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

BC and BU renew their rivalry for the first time in Terrier head coach David Quinn’s tenure Friday night … Yale and Quinnipiac meet Saturday in the first rematch of last April’s national championship game … St. Lawrence head coach Greg Carvel took a puck to the face on the bench Friday night and tweeted this picture of the damage (@SkatingSaints) … Manchester Monarchs head coach Mark Morris, longtime coach at Clarkson, enters this weekend with 298 career AHL wins. Two more wins would make him the only coach with 300+ wins in both pro and college hockey.