By Nate Ewell

C.J. Smith (Des Moines, Iowa/Chicago-USHL), who a year ago was the first freshman to lead UMass Lowell in scoring in 20 years, has improved his scoring pace as a sophomore. He leads the No. 11 River Hawks in goals (13), points (30), shots (98) and plus/minus (+15, tied) entering a key home-and-home Hockey East series with No. 7 Boston University. One of six Iowa natives in Division I, Smith fell in love with the sport watching the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers.

Most Career Points, Sophomores
73 – Andrew Poturalski, UNH
65 – Danton Heinen, Denver (BOS)
65 – C.J. Smith, UMass Lowell
56 – Dennis Kravchenko, UMass
56 – Landon Smith, Quinnipiac

Must Read/See/Hear Material

USCHO.com: Remembering Jack Riley
SiriusXM: Brian Riley on Jack Riley
Boston Globe: Fitzgerald brothers fired up for Beanpot final
Massachusetts Daily Collegian: Iacobellis, Plevy rekindle relationship on the ice
FOX 2: A Red Berenson Retrospective
College Hockey News: Anas still the spark for No. 1 Quinnipiac
The Pipeline Show: Jake Walman

Five More Storylines No One Should be Without

Andrle advances – After an emotional week that included the passing of legendary former coach Jack Riley, Army West Point took three points from favored Holy Cross and improved to 3-0-2 in its last five. Now sophomore Conor Andrle (St. Louis Park, Minn./Brookings-NAHL) and the Black Knights head to Atlantic Hockey-leading Robert Morris for two games. Andrle, who ranked second on the team in scoring as a rookie, has points in each game of the unbeaten streak (4g-4a) and has 10 more points than his closest teammate.

MSU Joe Cox – Michigan State junior Joe Cox (Chelsea, Mich./Muskegon-USHL) has developed a reputation with the Spartans as a top defensive forward while killing penalties and blocking shots. Friday his offensive ability took over, as he scored twice – including once on a penalty shot – in the Spartans’ 3-2 overtime win vs. Michigan in front of 20,027 at Joe Louis Arena. Cox and MSU, who host Penn State this weekend, are 2-2-0 after a 1-14-1 stretch. | MSUSpartans.com: Cox’s best, most satisfying game (second item)

More than a goal scorer – In a conference that boasts five of the nation’s top 10 goalies in goals-against average, Cornell’s Mitch Gillam (Peterborough, Ont./Chilliwack-BCHL) can sometimes get overlooked. Most Google hits for the junior, it seems, comes from his first NCAA game, when he scored an empty-net goal to seal a win vs. Niagara. The past two seasons his highlights have been confined to the crease, but there have been many of them. This year the 12-7-4 Big Red are the only team in the top 22 in winning percentage that has been outshot on the season.

The next generation – Freshman Mason Morelli (Minot, N.D./Fargo-USHL) leads Omaha with 6 points in the last 3 games after posting just 3 points in his first 18 games. A third-generation Division I player, Mason’s father, Matt, played at North Dakota when current Omaha head coach Dean Blais was an assistant at UND. The development of freshmen like Morelli offers some balance to an offense that boasts top-10 NCHC scorers Jake Guentzel (Woodbury, Minn./Sioux City-USHL/PIT) and Austin Ortega (Escondido, Calif./Fargo-USHL). | Friday’s game is on CBSSN; Saturday’s game is on FOX College Sports

Nell backstops BG – Bowling Green welcomes in-state rival Miami to the BGSU Ice Arena Friday, hoping to avenge a 2-1 road loss to the RedHawks last month. Sophomore goaltender Chris Nell (Green Bay, Wis./Chicago-USHL) leads the Falcons as his game has shown significant development from his rookie year. His save percentage has jumped from .917 to .933 and he has doubled his number of appearances (13 to 26), including nine straight starts.

NHL Note of the Week

As TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and Coors Field in Denver both prepare for Stadium Series games, each will have featured an NCAA game first. Minnesota beat Ohio State, 1-0, on Jan. 17, 2014, at TCF Bank Stadium, while Colorado College and Denver will face off at Coors Field on Feb. 20, six days prior to the Avalanche and Red Wings.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

With between three and five weeks remaining in the regular season, four of the six conferences feature leads at the top of the standings of 2 points or fewer. The Big Ten and Hockey East have ties atop their standings … New Hampshire head coach Dick Umile is slated to coach his 1,000th game on Saturday vs. Vermont … Quinnipiac hasn’t lost a conference game in nearly a calendar year (Feb. 28, 2015, at Dartmouth) entering this weekend’s series at St. Lawrence and Clarkson … 33 players have recorded a hat trick this season; Bentley’s Andrew Gladiuk (White Rock, B.C./Nanaimo-BCHL) is the only player with two. He has goals in six straight games.