By Nate Ewell
Three seasons after leading Moorhead High School to the Xcel Energy Center at the fabled Minnesota State Tournament, goaltender Michael Bitzer (Moorhead, Minn./Lincoln-USHL) was back with the Bemidji State Beavers for their first appearance in the North Star College Cup. Bitzer’s team didn’t win the state back in 2012, though he earned the Frank Brimsek Award as the state’s top goaltender. This year, he took home both team and individual honors, as BSU – the only unranked team in the field – beat Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State and Bitzer claimed tournament MVP honors. He’ll hope to lead the Beavers back to the Xcel for the WCHA Final Five in March.
Must Read/See/Head Material
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Oakland Press: Sky the limit for Michigan standout Larkin
St. Cloud State: SCSU’s big man on D has musical side
Daily Hampshire Gazette: Montour, youth key UMass second-half turnaround
Daily Free Press: For BU’s Somerby, there’s more than meets the eye
Daily Gazette: Union’s Ciampini ‘doesn’t cheat the game’
USCHO.com: At ASU, a coach with executive recruiting skills sets off to build a program
SB Nation: Rau is a Minnesota throwback
College Hockey News: Wisconsin freshman overcomes medical condition, scare
Five More Storylines No One Should be Without
Headliners open the Beanpot – Monday’s Beanpot, always a must-see event in Boston, takes on national significance when two top-four teams face off in the tournament’s opening game. No. 2 Boston University and No. 4 Harvard is a matchup that features two of the nation’s best teams, its biggest turnarounds from last year, and its most prolific offensive talents. Harvard junior Jimmy Vesey (N. Reading, Mass./South Shore-EJHL/NSH) and BU freshman Jack Eichel (N. Chelmsford, Mass./U.S. NTDP) are two of college hockey’s top NHL prospects and have led their teams to impressive first halves of the season.
The Beanpot’s second game features two of the nation’s hottest teams: Boston College (8-1-2) and Northeastern (7-1-3) have each only lost once in their last 11 games.
Biggest Win Improvements, 2013-14 to 2014-15
+5 – Alabama Huntsville, Boston University, Merrimack
+4 – Penn State
+2 – Harvard
Most Points Per Game
1.67 – Jimmy Vesey, Harvard (NSH)
1.64 – Jack Eichel, Boston University
1.59 – Zach Hyman, Michigan (FLA)
Monday’s games will be on NESN and TSN2
UND’s big Mac – North Dakota faced a big scare early this season when senior Mark MacMillan (Penticton, B.C./Penticton-BCHL/MTL) had his left wrist cut by a skate blade in a game Oct. 24 and was ruled out indefinitely. After surgery MacMillan was able to return to action after just four games, and his game has shown no ill effects. MacMillan leads the team with 13 goals, including five in No. 1 UND’s five-game winning streak entering this weekend’s series with No. 5 Nebraska Omaha. MacMillan – an excellent student and active member of the community – was named a candidate for both the Senior CLASS Award and the Hockey Humanitarian Award last week.
Friday’s game is on CBSSN; Saturday’s is on Fox College Sports
Captain leads RIT – When RIT lost captain Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ont./Powell River-BCHL) for 24 games to a broken wrist last season, few outside of Rochester might have realized what a significant piece the Tigers were missing. Now a senior and second-year captain, Grabowsky is making up for lost time – and proving to be one of the nation’s best all-around forwards. He enters this weekend’s home series with Army 8 points shy of 100 for his career, despite missing so much time last season, and leads the team in goals (17), points (32), plus/minus (+10, tied) and shots (85). He ranks second nationally in goals and first in faceoff wins (389, for a 57.7% success rate). The Tigers are home for seven of their final 10 games of the regular season and in the thick of the race for a top-four Atlantic Hockey finish and a first-round postseason bye.
Boyd’s growth key for Minnesota – One of college hockey’s most improved players over the past few years, Minnesota senior Travis Boyd (Hopkins, Minn./U.S. NTDP/WSH), has made a welcome return to the lineup after missing all of November due to injury earlier this season. Boyd, who had 1 goal and 9 points as an 18-year-old freshman, has steadily grown those offensive numbers and now leads the Golden Gophers with 1.13 points per game this season. He had 2 goals and 2 assists two weeks ago when Minnesota took three of four points in their first meetings with Wisconsin this season.
Both games this weekend will air on BTN
Bardreau hitting stride – Cornell heads into a home-and-home with travel partner Colgate this weekend seeking just its second weekend sweep in what has been an up-and-down season. Senior center Cole Bardreau (Fairport, N.Y./U.S. NTDP) seems to be hitting his offensive stride, which would be critical for a group that ranks 54th in goals per game (1.84). Bardreau, a do-it-all forward who won gold with the U.S. National Junior Team as a freshman, has 7 points in his last 5 games (2g-5a), including goals in both outings last weekend.
NHL Note of the Week
Twenty former college players scored goals Tuesday night as the NHL returned to action following the All-Star break. They represented 13 schools: Boston College (5 players), Michigan (3), Boston University (2), Denver, Michigan State, Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Rensselaer, Union, Western Michigan and Wisconsin.
Fries at the Bottom of the Bag
Clarkson goaltender Greg Lewis (Mars, Pa./Wenatchee-NAHL) posted back-to-back shutouts last weekend, a first for a Golden Knights goaltender since Feb. 5-8, 2000. Clarkson has won three in a row, all with Lewis between the pipes, his only decisions of the year … Air Force, which hadn’t won back-to-back games prior to Jan. 9, has won six straight since then … Michigan and Michigan State face each other in their next two games – Friday at Joe Louis Arena and next Saturday, Feb. 7, at Soldier Field in Chicago. Those two teams have the top power play and penalty kill, respectively, in January.