Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Notes: Out in the Elements

An outdoor game and great non-conference matchups highlight college hockey before the holiday break.

Notes: Out in the Elements
Frontier Field will host RIT and Niagara for an outdoor game on Saturday in Rochester, N.Y.

By Nate Ewell

College hockey heads outdoors this week as RIT hosts Niagara at Rochester’s Frontier Field, the first of 12 outdoor games in four venues this season. Seven of the two teams’ last 10 meetings have gone to overtime. With the number of outdoor games at the NHL and NCAA levels peaking this season, it serves as a reminder that college hockey introduced the modern concept of stadium games when Michigan visited Michigan State on Oct. 6, 2001. That set a world attendance record at the time, since broken when the two teams met at Michigan Stadium in 2010. The NHL Winter Classic is expected to eclipse that mark on New Year’s Day.

Must Read/See/Hear Material

Hamilton Spectator: Carey boys making the fans sing
Buffalo News: Shane shoots at brother Cory Conacher’s record
NHL.com: Pure scorer Barber building off freshman heroics
Star Tribune: Gophers Ambroz breaking out on, off ice
Boston Herald: Manson sparks resurgent NU

Five More Notes No One Should Be Without

Reunions at RPI – Denver’s visit to Rensselaer pits Engineers coach Seth Appert against the school where he had been an assistant coach. It’s also a showcase non-conference game for junior forward Ryan Haggerty (Stamford, Conn./U.S. NTDP), who holds a commanding national lead in goals with 18, five more than any other player. Haggerty has been a solid contributor his first two seasons on campus before emerging as an offensive force this season, sitting just two points shy of his career high (26) in less than half as many games. This weekend he will face former U.S. NTDP teammates Zac Larraza (Scottsdale, Ariz./PHX) and Quentin Shore (Denver, Colo./OTT) with Denver and the current U.S. Under-18 Team in an exhibition on Sunday.

Motte showdown tonight at Yost – Tonight’s top-five matchup between Ferris State and Michigan features a unique faceoff between brothers C.J. (FSU) and Tyler (UM) Motte of St. Clair, Mich. C.J., a junior goaltender, boasts the nation’s best record (13-0-2) and has carried the Bulldogs on the nation’s longest unbeaten streak (11-0-2). In his second year as Ferris State’s No. 1 goalie, C.J. has emerged as one of the nation’s best. Tyler, a freshman, is off to a fast start as well. Tied for second among Wolverines with 5 goals, he will head to Minnesota at the end of the week for the U.S. National Junior Team’s training camp.
Detroit News: Battle of the Motte brothers
Tonight’s game is on Fox Sports Detroit+ and Fox College Sports Atlantic

Big freshman leads Dutchmen – Union carries a seven-game winning streak into its final three tests before the holiday break – a home game tonight vs. Dartmouth and a two-game set this weekend at No. 1/2 St. Cloud State. Freshman Eli Lichtenwald (Saskatoon, Sask./Nipawin-SJHL) has led the Dutchmen in their current run. The 6-6, 235-pounder centers the team’s top line and has a point in every game he’s played. He scored in his collegiate debut, but suffered a lower-body injury that kept him out of the next seven games. His return coincided with the start of the seven-game winning streak, and he leads the team with nine points in that span.

Power surge at UMass – Massachusetts snapped an 0-7-1 slide with a 3-2 win at Notre Dame Saturday on national TV thanks to a late power-play goal. The power play has reemerged as a threat for the Minutemen of late, important since it has accounted for 19 of the team’s 33 goals on the year (57.5%). Senior defenseman Joel Hanley (Keswick, Ont./Newmarket-OJHL) has quarterbacked the PP, leading the team in scoring with the man advantage and collecting 10 of his 11 points then.

UMass PP by Month
Oct.: 32.4%
Nov.: 9.1%
Dec.: 28.6%

U.S. training camp – College hockey takes center stage as the U.S. National Junior Team assembles for its training camp Sunday, with 23 of the 29 participants boasting college ties. Head coach Don Lucia hosts the camp at the University of Minnesota, and his staff includes coaches from St. Cloud State (Bob Motzko), Boston College (Greg Brown), Denver (David Lassonde) and Yale (Dan Muse). As many as 11 schools could be represented among the players on the final 23-man roster.
Collegians fill US WJC roster

NHL Note of the Week

The top-scoring defenseman on 11 NHL teams played NCAA hockey.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

Alaska Anchorage is 6-1-1 at home, its best home start since joining Division I … Alabama-Huntsville defenseman Frank Miscura (Clinton Twp., Mich./Corpus Christi-NAHL) scored with 3.4 seconds remaining in OT to give UAH a 4-3 win at Bowling Green, its first WCHA victory … Nine of Michigan’s last 10 games have been decided by one goal (7-2 in those games).