Friday, December 15, 2017
Notes: Second-Half Storylines
With the season at its unofficial midpoint, a look at what lies ahead.
By Nate Ewell
More than two-thirds of Division I teams are off for exams and the holiday break, with 15 games on this weekend’s schedule. With that in mind, this week’s notes look ahead to the second half, with the first post-Christmas game slated for Dec. 28.
None of the six conference preseason favorites sit atop the standings as college hockey hits mid-December and the unofficial midpoint of the NCAA season. It’s been an unpredictable first half, one that has featured four teams with winning percentages above .800 – Cornell and St. Cloud State (both .833), Notre Dame (.825) and Clarkson (.816) – but everyone else below .700. That’s created incredible balance, and only one conference race that couldn’t see first place change in the course of a weekend (Big Ten, Notre Dame).
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The Athletic: Belpedio won’t let his NHL dream distract him from getting there
Massachusetts Daily Collegian: Ferraro making his mark with UMass
Watertown Daily Times: Pritchard providing consistent offense
St. Cloud Times: Poganski has no regrets about turning down pro offer, returning to UND
St. Cloud Times: Borgen’s rough, steady style helps fuel SCSU’s strong start
Mankato Free Press: Two-way game keeps Knutson scoring
New England Hockey Journal: Bruins prospect Swayman thriving at Maine
More Storylines No One Should Be Without
Balanced scoring – Eleven players are within five points of the national scoring lead, setting up a wide-open race for the Hobey Baker Award and other postseason honors. Notre Dame senior Jake Evans (Toronto, Ont./St. Michael’s-OJHL/MTL) leads the way with 28 points. The nation’s top six goal scorers include three seniors and three sophomores, led by Clarkson wing Sheldon Rempal (Calgary, Alta./Nanaimo-BCHL) with 16.
Experience counts – Only one freshman – Michigan State’s Michell Lewandowski (Clarkston, Mich./Chicago-USHL) – sits among the nation’s top 38 scorers, as he ranks tied for 16th with 21 points.
One place where new blood is having a big impact is in net. Four of the top 12 goaltenders in save percentage are freshmen, and five others played less than 30% of their team’s minutes last season.
Turnaround artists – Slow starts at Union (0-5-0), Boston College (1-5-1), Ferris State (2-6-1), Bentley (1-7-3) and Penn State (5-7-0), have given way to strong Novembers and Decembers, with each of those teams now within a game of .500. Boston College, Penn State and Union have all battled their way back into the national top 20.
Eye on the Olympics – The 2018 Winter Olympics are expected to showcase several current college players, in addition to dozen of alumni. Many teams will have to contend with the absence of top players for a key stretch in February as the players pursue gold in South Korea.
Notes by Conference
Atlantic Hockey – Bentley, which has won six in a row, will open its new on-campus arena in February … Two first-year head coaches – Canisius’s Trevor Large and Niagara’s Jason Lammers – have their teams 1-2 in the conference standings … Robert Morris senior Brady Ferguson (Lewisville, Texas/Amarillo-NAHL) leads all active players with 134 career points.
Big Ten – Notre Dame (10-0-0) has a 14-point lead in the conference and could be the first team other than Minnesota to win the Big Ten regular-season championship … The second- through sixth-place teams in the standings are separated by just four points … Wisconsin head coach Tony Granato will coach the U.S. at the Winter Olympics; his staff will include Yale head coach Keith Allain … The Big Ten conference playoffs move on-campus for the first time this season.
ECAC Hockey – Clarkson (8-0-0) is the first team with a perfect conference record at the break since Quinnipiac (8-0-0) in 2012-13 … Clarkson (1.42 goals against/game) and Cornell (1.83) are the top two defensive teams in the nation … Union junior Brett Supinski (Collegeville, Pa./Coquitlam-BCHL) has a point in 16 games this season, most of any player … Princeton has averaged 1.36 goals in the first period, most in the nation.
Hockey East – Conference leading Boston College is 8-2-1 since Nov. 1, and their scoring leaders in that time are two sophomores and three freshmen … Northeastern boasts the top two scorers in the conference in Adam Gaudette (Braintree, Mass./Cedar Rapids-USHL/VAN) and Dylan Sikura (Aurora, Ont./Aurora-OJHL/CHI) … Massachusetts is 9-7-0, one win shy of doubling last year’s total; its 77 points from freshmen are 33% more than any other team.
NCHC – Five teams sit in the USCHO.com top 20, tied with the Big Ten for the most by any conference, led by No. 1 St. Cloud State … Western Michigan’s Wade Allison (Myrtle, Man./Tri-City-USHL/PHI) and Colt Conrad (St. Alphonse, Man./Shattuck-St. Mary’s) are the highest scoring teammates in the nation, combining for 49 points … North Dakota alum Brock Boeser (29 points) leads a group of eight former NCAA players among the top 15 NHL rookies in scoring.
WCHA – Conference leader Bowling Green has to play 10 of its last 14 WCHA games on the road … The top four scorers in the WCHA are all seniors … Minnesota State, the conference’s top team in the polls at No. 7, is 11-0-0 when scoring more than two goals … Alaska senior Justin Woods (Fairbanks, Alaska/Lincoln-USHL), a cancer survivor, leads the nation’s defensemen in goals with eight.
WJC Note of the Week
Five candidates to play in the IIHF World Junior Championship are featured on the episode of “College Hockey Nation” that will debut Dec. 15 on ESPN On Demand.
Fries at the Bottom of the Bag
This weekend’s schedule includes a non-conference series with Dartmouth visiting Denver (both games on Altitude2, Friday’s game on TSN2) … Alumni of AIC (Kevin Collins), Boston University (Jack Parker and Scott Young), Harvard (Ben Smith) and Providence (Ron Wilson) were inducted in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Wednesday night … Power plays are clicking at 18.6% nationwide, up from 17.2% at this point last season … There are no outdoor games on the Division I men’s schedule in 2017-18 for the first time since 2008-09.