When Quinnipiac takes the ices for its next game on Dec. 3, it will have been nearly a month and a half since the Bobcats lost a game.
The Bobcats (10-1-3) will end November on a nine-game unbeaten streak after tying Clarkson Friday and rolling over St. Lawrence on Saturday. Quinnipiac’s only loss this season was a 3-1 setback to North Dakota on Oct. 23. That recent hot stretch has vaulted them to No. 3 in the latest USCHO poll, the highest QU has been ranked since Oct. 2016.
That success is thanks in part to a veteran Bobcats roster that has 18 upperclassmen, including five graduate transfers. It’s a marked change from recent seasons, when Quinnipiac often had a number of inexperienced players in key roles. The end result was a lot of inconsistency, not only from game to game, but often from period to period. This year, the Bobcats have shown plenty of resiliency and found a way to pull out a win against several tough opponents.
“I think that it shows up when get down to crunch time and third periods,” junior forward Guus Van Nes said of this year’s team. “I think that’s when it shows up the most; we bear down and find a way every time, it feels like.”
One of the most noteworthy transfers was former Massachusetts forward Oliver Chau, who won the national championship with the Minutemen last season. He’s tied for second on the Bobcats with six goals this season. Chau recorded his first career hat trick in a 5-2 win over Arizona State on Nov. 13, the second game in a stretch of three consecutive games where Quinnipiac rallied from an early deficit to either win or tie.
“We’ve been through these situations a lot before; we know we can get out of them and there’s a calmness in the locker room between periods,” Chau said. “No matter what the score is, we have a lot of confidence in our group.”
While the Bobcats’ transfers are familiar with college hockey, it can still be challenging to adapt to a new program and its on-ice systems. But it’s been a smooth transition for Chau, who said he was attracted to Quinnipiac because of its business school and MBA program.
“It’s been great,” Chau said. “The returning guys have nothing but helpful and helping us acclimate to this new culture and this new team and getting us prepared in terms of systems on the ice. And also off the ice, making sure we know where everything is in terms of classes and what classes to pick and all that kind of stuff.”
In addition to fitting in with his teammates, Chau has made a good impression on his coach as well.
“I’m just really impressed with him as a player and as a person,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said following the Bobcats’ win over Arizona State on Nov. 13. “He is a great leader in our room.”
Pecknold is no stranger to bringing in transfer players; the Bobcats have had at least one transfer on their roster in all but one season dating back to 2012. But it’s unusual to have a transfer with a national championship ring. For his part, Chau has been doing his best to impart any advice to his new teammates.
“For me personally, I just try to be myself,” Chau said. “Obviously with last year, I know a bunch of the guys asked me kind of what like what was the keys to success and I just try to bring some elements from last year into this year’s team so hopefully we can do it again.”
