As Valentine’s Day hit us yesterday, I got to thinking about the guys in the CCHA who wear No. 14 and how they may have fared on the ice this past weekend.
- Alaska sophomore forward Adam Henderson did not play Feb. 11-12. His only goal this season was the third in a 4-1 win over Bowling Green Oct. 30. Henderson played 27 games with the Spartans in 2008-09 before spending the 2009-10 season with the Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL).
- Bowling Green freshman forward Camden Wojtala (3-10-13) had an assist on the Falcons’ only goal in their 5-1 loss to Notre Dame Saturday, marking his first point in 10 games.
- Ferris State senior forward Todd Pococke forward (2-2-4) scored his second goal of the season Friday, the game-winning goal in FSU’s 5-2 win over Alabama-Huntsville.
- Lake Superior freshman forward Dan Radke (2-3-5) was scoreless in two games as the Lakers tied and defeated Alaska this past weekend. Scored his only CCHA goal Dec. 10, 2010, the fourth goal in the Lakers’ 5-2 win over Western.
- Miami senior defenseman Vincent LoVerde (1-6-7) had two assists in Miami’s 3-1 win Saturday – but neither was on the game-winner. He’s now four points shy of his career-best points total (3-8-11) of last season. As was pointed out to me in the Michigan State press box recently, the first letters of LoVerde’s last name spell “love.”
- Michigan State sophomore defenseman Zach Josepher (0-5-5) had an assist on the goal that gave the Spartans a 4-1 lead over Northern Michigan Saturday, a game NMU won 6-5. Hasn’t scored a goal since Feb. 26, 2010.
- Northern Michigan sophomore forward Brian Nugent (3-2-5) played both games in NMU’s sweep of MSU Friday and Saturday. His last point was an assist Jan. 22, 2011, in Northern’s 3-1 win over Ferris State. Has four more points than he did his freshman season. Likes to score against Michigan Tech; his only point in 2009-10 came in his first collegiate game, against MTU, and two of this three goals this season were scored against the Huskies. Also, his first two collegiate goals were scored against Tech: Oct. 9, 2009, and Oct. 12, 2010, with a 20-game stretch in between with no points at all.
- Notre Dame junior defenseman Nick Condon did not play when the Irish swept the Falcons this past weekend. Has played two games this season; his last action was Jan. 8, 2011. Played 20 last year, three the year before. Has no career points – yet.
- Ohio State sophomore forward Alex Carlson (0-1-1) last played Feb. 4-5 against Michigan State. Has played in 11 games this season. His assist came vs. Army Jan. 2, 2011, when the Buckeyes captured the Catamount Cup.
- Western Michigan junior forward and captain Ian Slater (7-8-15) had a goal and an assist against Miami last weekend. His goal was the second in Friday’s 3-3 tie, the first the Broncos scored within less than two minutes in the middle of the third when they were down 3-1. A native of Satellite Beach, Fla., Slater is the only Floridian in the league.
Fourteen is also half the number of conference games the CCHA currently plays. It took until the first full week in January for all league teams to reach the 14-game or midseason mark. Here are a couple of things I learned looking back at that point.
- In conference scoring, three players – Miami’s Reilly Smith, Michigan’s Carl Hagelin and Notre Dame’s T.J. Tynan – had reached the 10-goal plateau by midseason. There are now 10 players with double-digit goals in league play. Smith (18-15-33) leads the league in goals scored in CCHA games.
- Tynan (14-17-31) led all CCHA freshmen in conference scoring at the midway point of the season. He still does.
- Through 15 games, Michigan was allowing an average of 2.00 goals per game and was second to Ferris State (1.94) in team defense in conference play. Through 24 games, the Wolverines are still allowing 2.00 goals per game but are now first in team D.
- Through their first 16 games, Miami led the CCHA in power play (22.7%); 10 games later, and Miami still leads the league (24.2). In that first week in January, Western Michigan was second (19.7) but now Northern Michigan is second – and a more distant second (18.7) – while the Broncos’ power play has dropped by five percentage points (14.8) for eighth place.
- Now as it was at midseason, two CCHA teams have penalty kills operating a hair above 90 percent, with everyone else less 88 percent. The only difference at the top is that Ferris State was first and Miami second, but now it’s the other way around.
If this space isn’t enough to disabuse me, there’s always Twitter: @paulacweston.
