Notes: Highly unusual road trip looms for Golden Griffins

By Jayson Hajdu

A hallmark of the college hockey schedule is the routine of it at all.

Most teams typically – not always, but typically – practice during the week leading up to two games on Friday and Saturday. There are occasional weekday games mixed in, particularly for eastern-based teams but, by and large, everything is geared toward a two-game weekend. The slow build toward gameday is embraced by student-athletes and coaches alike. Especially by coaches.

That all goes out the window this week for Canisius College.

The Golden Griffins will travel to Erie, Pa., for a regularly scheduled Atlantic Hockey series Friday and Saturday at Mercyhurst. That’s when the routine deviates greatly. Instead of returning home to Buffalo following the Mercyhurst series, Canisius will travel across three time zones to Colorado Springs, Colo., for two more games Monday and Tuesday at Air Force Academy.

The series is a make-up of their postponed series from late December when a winter storm caused significant travel issues.

“We have been trained to handle this chaos, and we will be ready for every game,” Canisius Head Coach Trevor Large told College Hockey Inc. “Our practices have been short. We have been focused on nutrition and hydrating properly to give ourselves the best opportunity to perform at our highest level.”

Canisius will fly to Cleveland after Saturday’s game, then fly to Denver on Sunday morning.

“This travel is rare,” continued Large. “Our plan and focus has been on remaining present. One foot in front of the other. Our team has been focused and attentive every day. This is the best time of year, and we are all excited for the next few days.”

Elsewhere around the country, this week’s top-20 PairWise matchups include:

#4 Michigan vs. #14 Michigan State (Friday, Saturday @ Little Caesars Arena)
#8 Ohio State at #19 Notre Dame (Friday, Saturday)
#11 Harvard vs. #16 Northeastern (Monday @ TD Garden)

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | TV Schedule | Stat Leaders

Must Read:

Boston Globe: Northeastern, Harvard have never met in men’s Beanpot final. That will end next week
Boston Herald: Harvard, Northeastern headed to Beanpot title game
College Hockey Inc.: Paths: British Columbia and NCAA hockey
College Hockey News: Smilanic re-focused after leave from Badgers
College Hockey News: Team of the Week: Yale
FloHockey: Upper Peninsula back in spotlight
Grand Forks Herald: UND’s power play is clicking at rates rarely seen in college hockey
Lansing State Journal: MSU seniors saw renaissance season coming early
Michigan Daily: In order to grow, Ethan Edwards is constantly learning
Minneapolis Star Tribune: St. Thomas sees sunny days ahead in hockey after split with Minnesota State
New England Hockey Journal: How the Beanpot will look different with new faces this year
New York Hockey Journal: Rochester’s Mark Zengerle still skating his hockey journey in Germany
NHL.com: Snuggerud among NCAA players with NHL alumni fathers
The Athletic: NHL of the future? Beanpot coaches on ‘positionless hockey,’ tomorrow’s NHL
USCHO: Morgan says new job is ‘a great opportunity’ as hockey ‘has always been my first love’
USCHO: Omaha’s Miller called ‘a great person’ jumping into action at youth practice after roof collapses
USCHO: Ferris State captain Slick says Bulldogs ‘have the ability to win games’ with BSU series on tap
USCHO: Looking ahead with excitement, questions as college hockey season stretch drive approaching

Must Hear:

CHN Insiders Podcast: Featuring St. Thomas Head Coach Rico Blasi
College Hockey West Weekly: Featuring Alaska Head Coach Erik Largen
Inside Atlantic Hockey: Featuring incoming AHA Commissioner Michelle Morgan
Inside ECAC Hockey: Nic Pierog and Paige Decker on Concussion Awareness Week
The CCHA Show: Featuring Augustana Director of Athletics Josh Morton
The Pipeline Show: Featuring RIT sophomore forward Carter Wilkie
The Rink Live Weekend Rewind: Conference races tightening up
USCHO Spotlight: Incoming Atlantic Hockey Commissioner Michelle Morgan
USCHO Weekend Review: Who’s hot coming down the stretch; Atlantic Hockey picks next commissioner

Forever Young:

With Bowling Green’s Austen Swankler having had his 19-game point streak snapped last Saturday, the nation’s longest active streak now belongs to Colgate junior F Alex Young (Calgary, Alberta).

The San Jose Sharks draft pick has reached the scoresheet in 12 consecutive games, tallying a whopping 12 goals in that stretch (five on the power play) to go with five assists. Those 12 goals have come on just 35 shots, a blistering 34-percent shooting percentage.

In 28 games overall this season, Young leads the ECAC with a career-high 17 goals and is tied for third in the conference scoring race with 30 points. He needs one more point to match the career-best 31 he amassed in 39 contests a year ago.

Young and the Raiders will face Cornell in a home-and-home series Friday and Saturday.

The More the Merrier:

Two weeks ago, Denver and Colorado College played in front of 17,952 fans at Ball Arena, home of the Colorado Avalanche. This week, two more NHL venues will host a trio of marquee matchups in college hockey.

On Saturday, Big Ten rivals Michigan and Michigan State will square off in the Duel in the D at Little Caesars Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings. The game can be seen live on ESPNU and TSN2.

Two nights later, Boston’s TD Garden – home of the Bruins – will host the final two games of the 70th men’s Beanpot. Boston College and Boston University will play in the consolation game, followed by Harvard and Northeastern in the championship game. The latter will be carried live by NESN. It’s the first time in Beanpot history that Harvard and Northeastern will meet in the final.

Gimme a Blake:

Few goalies have enjoyed a stretch this year like Blake Pietila’s (Howell, Mich.) current run.

Michigan Tech’s senior netminder enters this weekend’s Winter Carnival series against Bowling Green with just one loss in his last 11 appearances (9-1-1). Four of those victories came via shutout, giving him a nation’s best eight shutouts this season, extending his own school single-season record in the process.

Pietila also ranks among the top five nationally this season in wins (19), goals against average (1.87), save percentage (.931) and minutes played (1697:17).

You Can Quote Me On That:

“I’m glad there’s not a lot of people here…because I still haven’t changed my underwear. Those lucky undies are still working right now. We’ve won three in a row and, to be honest with you, I hope I’m wearing these lucky undies for the next 22 days or so.”

-- Air Force Head Coach Frank Serratore at his weekly press conference. (source: Carson Field).

NHL Note of the Week:

New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (Harvard, 2016-19) needs just one more helper for a third consecutive 40-assist season. He would become just the fourth defender in Rangers’ history to achieve that feat, joining Brian Leetch, Brad Park and James Patrick. (Source: NHL Public Relations)

Leetch (Boston College, 1986-87) and Patrick (North Dakota, 1981-83) also played college hockey.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Bowling Green graduate F Chase Gresock (Powell, Ohio) enters the week with 98 career points … Boston University freshman D Lane Hutson (Chicago, Ill.) is riding an 11-game point streak (3 G, 16 A) that is the nation’s longest by a defenseman this season … St. Cloud State senior F Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland) registered his 100th career point in Saturday’s 1-1 tie with Miami … Jay Pandolfo became the first head coach in Boston University history to win 20 games in his first season behind the Terriers’ bench … Cornell set a pair of modern-era (since 1957-58) school records in Saturday’s 10-1 win over Union, establishing program standards for fastest three goals (23 seconds) and fastest four goals (56 seconds). Cornell’s six power-play goals were the most in a game by the Big Red since scoring a school-record seven against York University on Nov. 18, 1977.

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

Did you know? 92% of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players earn their degree!