Welcome back, everybody. Lots and lots and lots of results to sort through (maybe I should’ve been more proactive over the holidays?) so let’s get to it. Players of the… um… Weeks Player of the Weeks: Matt Reber, Dartmouth Yet another icer out of hockey-mad Edina, Minn., senior Reber scored twice and added four assists … Read more
It’s me and former Clarkson team manager Benjamin Davis, sparring over more than two dozen games straddling this New Year transition. He beat me to end 2010, and he beat me in the first half of the Week 13 picks, 8-2-1 to 5-4-1. Let’s keep the momentum going… or at least, keep his momentum going… … Read more
Those who remember former Florida Panthers winger Richard Zednik’s or Buffalo Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuk’s infamous injuries – and believe me, if you saw them you’d never forget – shudder to recall them. The 1,133 at Alabama-Huntsville’s Von Braun center Thursday night may have similar nightmares now, after Rensselaer freshman Brock Higgs required emergency surgery … Read more
Happy holidays to all; I hope your delays and frustrations are minimal. There is a lot of action just ahead of us, so let’s get right to it. Welcome back Clarkson ’03’s Benjamin Davis, who bested me a few weeks back by having minimal faith in Union. He really had to go all-out in his … Read more
On the fly Saturday, December 18 Vermont 4 at St. Lawrence 6 Frosh Greg Carey scored two power-play goals – including the game-winner – as the Saints took an early lead and held on in a wild non-conference affair. Senior Nick Pitsikoulis also buried a pair, and rookie Kyle Essery and junior Rick Carden added … Read more
This week, we welcome yet another victim to the slaughter: Mr. Benjamin Davis. A former equipment manager at Clarkson (class of ’03), Davis feels he has the hockey savvy to take down your loyal puck pundit. We’ll see about that. Prediction precision Last week: 8-1-0 (.889) Season record: Me: 61-29-11 (.658) Guest guessers: 38-31-6 (.547) … Read more
There are plenty of good combinations in the world; duos that, together, are so much better than the sum of their respective parts. Ivy Leaguers and Sperry Top-Siders. Ebony and ivory. Foie gras and Sauternes. (Who am I kidding? Sauternes would be great with Raisin Bran.) And so it is in hockey, too. Gretzky and … Read more
Players of the Week* *These are my selections; ECAC Hockey’s can be found here. Player of the Week: Brandon DeFazio, Clarkson DeFazio led by example against SHU, scoring the hat trick – including a much-needed power-play goal and the game-winner – and adding an assist with a plus-3 rating in Clarkson’s rout. One of the … Read more
On the fly Friday, December 10 American Int’l 1 at Union 8 The Dutchmen boasted as many multi-point scorers as they did goals in the blowout, with sophomore Jeremy Welsh leading the way with a hat trick. Senior Justin Pallos scored twice, and frosh Mat Bodie, sophomore Wayne Simpson and junior Kelly Zajac also chipped … Read more
Well well well, we finally found somebody with the cajones to step into the ring with The Prognosticator. Welcome Tom Rodbell, a life-long ECAC fan from the Nutmeg State. Don’t try to push your Bobcats or Bulldogs fervor on him, though – he’s from a family of Engineers fans, who considers Brian Pothier his favorite … Read more
Light blog entry this week; look for more on Yale’s historic achievement in the column Thursday morning. Players of the Week* *These are my selections; ECAC Hockey’s can be found here. Player of the Week: Andrew Miller, Yale The 5’9″ sophomore out of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan only scored once this weekend, but increased his point … Read more
On the fly Friday, December 3 Alabama-Huntsville 1 at Cornell 3 Sophomore John Esposito broke the ice, and seniors Patrick Kennedy and Tyler Roeszler followed through the breach as the Big Red scored three second-period goals to take Game 1. Junior netminder Mike Garman stopped 24 of 25 for his second win of the year, … Read more
Prediction precision Last week 7-2-1 (.750) Season record 46-23-10 (.646) Guest guessers: 32-28-6 (.530) Still seeking new challengers to my prognostication prowess… email me at ECACWriter@USCHO.com with five good (or bad) reasons why you should be selected as a guest-guesser. This week All times Eastern Friday, December 3 Rensselaer at Yale – 7:00 I’m not … Read more
Players of the Week *These are my selections; ECAC Hockey’s can be found here. Player of the Week: Nick Walsh, Dartmouth The 6’1″ junior out of Shannonville, Ontario racked up a 4-1–5 line in two games against Harvard. His big haul included a hat trick in Friday’s rout in Boston and the game-winner Saturday, and … Read more
On the Fly Friday, November 26 Dartmouth 8 at Harvard 2 Junior Nick Walsh scored his first career hat trick and rookie Eric Robinson scored with two assists in his NCAA debut in the Big Green romp. Fellow freshman Matt Lindblad, sophomore Dustin Walsh, junior Doug Jones and senior Scott Fleming also lit the lamp … Read more
It’s a holiday week (in case you hadn’t noticed), so no guest-guesser this time. Last week Me: 8-4-1 (.654) Stephen Shablak: 6-3-0 (.667) Season record Me: 39-21-9 (.630) Guest guessers: 32-28-6 (.530) Head to head: Sullivan 4, Guests 2* *Shablak didn’t predict Tuesday’s outcomes, and I lost when his boys – Colgate – fell to … Read more
Players of the Week* *These are my selections; ECAC Hockey’s can be found here. Player of the Week: Jack Maclellan, Brown Bruno’s junior sniper scored a goal and added two assists in Friday’s 5-2 win at Colgate, then added three more helpers at New Hampshire to help boost Brown to a 2-0-1 week. The wiry … Read more
On the Fly Friday, November 19 Harvard 0 at Princeton 1 Sophomore Mike Condon’s career-high 36 saves bested senior Kyle Richter’s 34, as the Tigers netminder recorded his first career shutout thanks to senior Mike Kramer’s first-period strike. The officials whistled only four penalties, leading to 71 combined shots (including 15 apiece in the second … Read more
Everybody, please welcome my newest competitor, Stephen Shablak. Colgate devotee and ECAC Hockey super-fan, Shablak is also a master of brevity. (He really out-did himself in that regard, risking derision and failure by not even picking Tuesday’s games!) Among his justifications for pixel-usage: “3) I’ve followed ECAC hockey since it’s inception 4)I played in the … Read more
Players of the Week* *These are my selections; ECAC Hockey’s can be found here. May as well call this Rookie Week… just take a look. Wow. Player of the Week: Mike Keenan, Dartmouth It figures that with 13 goals on the North Country trip, a couple Dartmouth players were going to get some recognition. Keenan, … Read more