Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Notes: Local Rivals Face Off

RPI-Union, North Star College Cup and Canisius-Niagara highlight terrific weekend slate.

Notes: Local Rivals Face Off
Matt Neal has scored all three of his goals this season in the last three games.

By Nate Ewell

Rensselaer has snapped out of a nine-game losing streak with three wins in a row, thanks largely to the contributions of seniors Matt Neal (Minesing, Ont./Stouffville-OJHL) and Jacob Laliberte (Rockland, Ont./Cornwall-CCHL). The two wings are linemates and combined for five goals and six assists in the win streak; RPI has scored at least three goals in each of those games after being held to two or fewer in each game of the losing streak. Despite that long losing streak, the Engineers are tied for third in ECAC Hockey heading into the seniors’ final scheduled game against rival Union, Saturday in the Mayor’s Cup in Albany.

Must Read/See/Head Material

City Pages: Game misconduct: The assault on the state of hockey
Burlington Free Press: Forgione finally hits the ice for UVM
Watertown Daily Times: Focused Thompson impacting Saints squad
The Wolverine: Hyman is reaping rewards of his perseverance
Michigan Daily: Transition to college a breeze for Cutler Martin
SB Nation: Vatrano worth the wait at UMass
College Hockey News: SLU epitomizing college hockey’s ‘family’ spirit
Minnesota Daily: Reilly reaps rewards of rehabilitation
St. Cloud Times: SCSU’s Finnish goalie has strong U.S. ties
USCHO.com: The Rileys: Mercyhurst’s Jack continues the famous college hockey bloodline

Five More Storylines No One Should be Without

Palmquist paces Minnesota State – Top-ranked Minnesota State heads into this weekend’s North Star College Cup with an NCAA-best eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1). Senior defenseman Zach Palmquist (South St. Paul, Minn./Waterloo-USHL) will lead his team into the Xcel Energy Center – practically his backyard – where the Mavericks hope to return for the WCHA Final Five in March. Palmquist has been a consistent offensive threat from the blueline for Minnesota State, and he’s raised his defensive game this season. He should be a top NHL free agent target after his college career – he and teammate Casey Nelson (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./Johnstown-NAHL) lead all undrafted college defensemen with 19 points this season.
The North Star College Cup can be seen on FOX Sports North+ (Fri.) and FOX Sports North (Sat.)

Canisius-Niagara renew rivalry – Niagara hosts cross-town rival Canisius for two games this weekend with hopes of not only beating its rival, but sparking a second-half surge. Senior Isaac Kohls (Forest Lake, Minn./Muskegon-USHL) has been a leader through a challenging and often injury filled campaign for the Purple Eagles – only two players have appeared in all 22 games. Kohls had a breakout second half last season, posting 9 goals and 15 points after Jan. 1, and despite missing the last six games of the year. He leads this year’s team with 10 points, including at least a point in all three NU victories.

Brady Brady excels at UVM – Third-place Vermont is within striking distance of first place in Hockey East as the Catamounts host conference co-leader BU this weekend. Sophomore Brady Shaw (Ottawa, Ont./Surrey-BCHL) has emerged as a dangerous offensive threat for UVM, already surpassing his freshman year numbers and standing second on the team in goals with 8. Shaw is a familiar name to hockey fans of all ages: his dad, Brad, played 11 years in the NHL and is a St. Louis Blues assistant coach, while his mom, Mary, created the popular “Brady Brady” hockey children’s book series named after Brady. | Chat with the Cats: Brady Shaw

Hargrove, Broncos red hot – Among the NCAA’s hottest teams is Western Michigan, which only has a one-goal loss to Colgate blemishing its last 10 outings (7-1-2). The hottest Bronco right now is junior Colton Hargrove (Rockwall, Texas/Fargo-USHL/BOS), who has goals in 5 straight games (6g-2a in that time). Like his team, the junior’s season started slowly, but has picked up dramatically. He hasn’t had a minus game since he was a healthy scratch for the team’s fourth game of the year, Oct. 18. | MLive.com: Hargrove finding his groove | College Hockey News: One-two punch

Michigan keeps scoring – Michigan has put up video game-like offensive numbers of late (see below) and they are even better with freshman Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich./U.S. NTDP/DET) in the lineup. Larkin missed two of the last 10 games while with the U.S. National Junior Team; take those away and Michigan is averaging 5.88 goals with Larkin playing. At the junior team’s training camp, Larkin noted that he felt his offensive touch had developed in his first semester on campus – he showed that at the World Junior Championship and continues to since he’s returned.

Most Goals Per Game, Since Nov. 22
5.10 – Michigan
3.92 – Robert Morris
3.83 – Minnesota State
3.75 – Harvard, Ohio State

Friday’s Michigan-Wisconsin game is on BTN

NHL Note of the Week

NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings for the 2015 NHL Draft included 95 current or future NCAA players, highlighted by two of the top three and three of the top six in the ranking of North American skaters. | Full Story

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

Twelve games will be televised on national or regional sports networks this weekend … Merrimack finished the non-conference portion of its schedule 9-2-1, its best out-of-conference mark since it posted the same record in 2010-11, when it last reached the NCAA Tournament … Notre Dame’s Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill./U.S. NTDP/NYI) recorded the first hat trick by a defenseman this season Sunday at Connecticut … Holy Cross has lost four straight games, but all have been by one goal, all on the road and two have been in OT … Robert Morris senior Cody Wydo (Allen Park, Mich./Motor City-NAHL) broke the school’s career scoring record with his first career five-point game on Saturday.