Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Notes: World Travelers

First NCAA games overseas highlight impressive slate of games this holiday weekend.

Notes: World Travelers
UMass Lowell goaltender Kevin Boyle leads the nation with 371 saves this season.

By Nate Ewell

World travelers – NCAA hockey alumni heavily populate professional rosters in Europe, and current teams make the occasional offseason trip to play exhibition games. This weekend marks the first time, however, that regular-season NCAA games will be played overseas as Belfast, Northern Ireland, plays host to the Friendship Four tournament featuring Brown, Colgate, UMass Lowell and Northeastern. No. 4 UMass Lowell is the pre-tournament favorite at 9-1-3 and boasts a roster that includes players from 17 states, three Canadian provinces and two countries in Europe (Finland and Sweden).
Friday’s games will air live on NESN/TSN1. Saturday’s games are on NESN+.

Must Read/See/Hear Material

USCHO.com: Illinois produces players but has no Division I team
St. Cloud Times: SCSU’s marksman Benik finds consistency
College Hockey News: No place like home for Lindgren
Newsday: Cornell, Boston and college hockey’s boon at MSG
Eye on the Tigers: Anderson’s unlikely walk-on path to Princeton hockey
RMUColonials.com: A pair of aces
Mgoblue.com: Werenski savors chance to grow at U-M

From Tuesday: More than half of all Division I teams have a player or recruit on NHL Central Scouting’s November Watch List

Five More Storylines No One Should be Without

Baxter boys – Baxter, Minnesota, is nearly 800 miles from Bowling Green, Ohio, but distance hasn’t slowed the pipleline of Baxter talent headed to the Falcons. Junior Matt Pohlkamp (Baxter, Minn./Bismarck-NAHL) welcomed younger brother, Chris, to campus this year, giving the Falcons three former Brainerd High School teammates along with sophomore Mitchell McLain (Baxter, Minn./Langley-BCHL). Matt Pohlkamp had a hand in all four goals Saturday to take over the team scoring lead (5g-6a) in BGSU’s third straight win. The Falcons continue a six-game homestand with two games against Northern Michigan this weekend.

In-state seniors lead Air Force – Only two seniors have played for Air Force this season, but the two co-captains – Ben Carey (Centennial, Colo./Wenatchee-NAHL) and Max Hartner (Greenwood Village, Colo./Green Bay-USHL) – have provided excellent leadership for a young Falcon team (4-6-2 overall, 3-3-2 Atlantic Hockey). The two in-state classmates should be especially motivated for a home-and-home series against cross-town rival Colorado College this weekend. Air Force beat Denver in its season opener, 5-4 in OT, and with a win this weekend would beat its two in-state rivals in the same season for the first time.

C for Compher – Three freshmen sit atop Michigan’s scoring charts, but for all the young talent on the Wolverines, leadership from the likes of junior captain J.T. Compher (Northbrook, Ill./U.S. NTDP/COL) will be critical to their success. Compher – who coined the phrase “Create the Difference” to motivate the team during offseason workouts – only has one goal thus far but has chipped in seven assists, including one in each of the last three games. Last weekend at Boston University a couple of points and a Saturday night win wasn’t the end of the story for the Compher family – on Monday, his younger sister, Jesse, committed to play at BU.

Garteig lists Quinnipiac – Quinnipiac’s offense – averaging 4.64 goals in the first 11 games of the season – managed just one goal in two games last weekend, but the Bobcats still didn’t suffer their first loss of the season thanks to the goaltending of senior Michael Garteig (Prince George, B.C./Penticton-BCHL). Garteig is no stranger to winning – while with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees, where he played with current teammate Travis St. Denis (Trail, B.C./Penticton-BCHL) and more than a dozen other future Division I players, Garteig led the Vees on a BCHL-record 42-game winning streak. That record will stand at least a bit longer as this year’s Vees team lost last weekend to end a 23-game winning streak.

Omaha’s offensive leader – Omaha has rebounded from an 0-2 start in NCHC play with a four-game unbeaten streak and the No. 6 Mavericks are now 9-2-1 headed into a home series with Ohio State. Junior Jake Guentzel (Woodbury, Minn./Sioux City-USHL/PIT) leads the offense and has points in 10 of 12 games. The son of Minnesota associate coach Mike Guentzel earns praise – perhaps not surprisingly – for his hockey sense and knack for being in the right spot. He is 10 points shy of 100 for his career while averaging 1.06 points per game.

Most Career Points Per Game, Current Juniors & Seniors
1.15 – Kevin Roy, Northeastern
1.08 – Jimmy Vesey, Harvard
1.07 – Sam Anas, Quinnipiac
1.06 – Jake Guentzel, Omaha
1.03 – Mike Vecchione, Union

NHL Note of the Week

2014 NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player Shayne Gostisbehere (Union/Philadelphia Flyers) became the first rookie to score an overtime goal Monday night, his second goal in five games this year.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

Wednesday marks the sixth anniversary of College Hockey Inc., which was introduced at a press conference at Harvard on Nov. 25, 2009 … Two NHL arenas host games this weekend: Madison Square Garden on Saturday (Cornell vs. Boston University) and Wells Fargo Center on Sunday (Penn State vs. Vermont) … 22 of 48 Division I games last weekend went to overtime, while nine more were decided by one goal … Providence (15 games, dating to last season) and Quinnipiac (13 games) boast the nation’s two longest unbeaten streaks … Vermont announced plans to host Martin St. Louis Night on Jan. 8 vs. Dartmouth … Jerry York, whose NCAA-leading win total is at 995, faces two former players from Bowling Green Saturday in RIT coaches Wayne Wilson and Brian Hills.