Besides the Ivies, the season is now underway. D1 women's hockey is nearing the end of its first month while a large portion of D1 men's hockey teams opened their season last weekend. Ohio State took home the Ice Breaker trophy. Several teams took home surprising results. I'm still not sure what to make of Colorado College's Friday sweaters.
Anyways, it's time for another edition of the college hockey stock report, recapping who is doing well, who is on their way down and what trends should be followed.
Slightly different than previous editions is ending this with who I thought won the week. It can be a team, a player, a coach, or anything that signifies the best in college hockey. Let me know who you think should win the week in the comments.
At the very least, talk of last season is trending downward.
Up: Players scoring first goals and getting first wins
One of the highlights each September and October is seeing players score their first collegiate goal or goaltenders getting their first win. There is something special to witness decades of work coming together into a single moment of celebration. It comes annually. The leaves fall and red lights get lit, but that doesn't make it any less special.
Couple firsts for the #Gophers last weekend in Colorado...— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) October 15, 2019
Congrats to Jared Moe (First Win) and Matt Staudacher (First Goal)! pic.twitter.com/5BZezNGsDL
Hold: Any Minnesota Duluth championship hangover storyline
Banner raising night did not go well for the Bulldogs. After losing an exhibition game to Alberta, Minnesota Duluth opened the season with a 3-2 loss to UMass Lowell. The team did follow up the next day with a 2-1 win but lost the No. 1 ranking to Denver.
Sure, this wasn't the best opening stretch for UMD, but you know what else wasn't a great opening stretch? Last season. The Bulldogs tied and lost to Minnesota. Neither game was as bad as the scoreboard made it seem, which can also be said about this past weekend. UMD nearly came back from a 3-0 deficit, however, more importantly, the team outshot the River Hawks by a 2:1 margin. On Saturday, UMass Lowell had nine shots on goal at even strength.
It's not the result wanted, but the Bulldogs continue to give itself opportunities. If that continues, it wouldn't be a surprise to see a repeat of where Minnesota Duluth followed up its opening weekend last season with eight straight wins.
Down: Arizona State in the state of Minnesota
The Sun Devils went to Mankato last weekend and continued its streak of ASU's offense being as cold as a mid-October night in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. (Jokes aside, it snowed last weekend!) Arizona State was swept by the Mavericks, making Minnesota State the fourth Minnesota team of five (all except UMD) to sweep ASU and dropping the Sun Devils to 0-8 all-time inside the state. Saturday's 4-0 loss was the fourth shutout of the eight games and dropped ASU to 1-3 on the season.
In fairness, three of the shutouts happened in Arizona State's first season, but given where the team has been over the past year-plus, ASU needs to get over another hump. It remains remarkable the Sun Devils scored four goals in four losses where none of the games were close.
Up: Big Ten defenders with hat tricks
Cole Hults became only the second Big Ten defender to record a hat trick when the Penn State junior scored three goals in Friday's 8-2 win. He joins Minnesota's Michael Brodzinski, who accomplished the feat in a 9-2 win over Wisconsin on January 23, 2016.
In the 6+ seasons where the Big Ten sponsored men's ice hockey, only 13 defenders scored three goals in one game.
Up: Mercyhurst winning for Folgs
Over the summer, Mercyhurst equipment manager Mike Folga lost his battle with cancer. The Lakers continue to honor him in the best way. After holding a moment of silence in its season opener, Mercyhurst defeated Arizona State in Tempe with the game-winning goal coming with less than 20 seconds remaining. The Lakers did the same thing in its home opener last weekend, scoring an OT goal to defeat St. Lawrence.
Hold: Teams being tested
A theme among women's hockey the past two weekends is the top teams being tested and facing adversity. Clarkson was upset by UMD, who faced a challenge of its own in Minnesota State last weekend. Boston University tied Merrimack and lost to New Hampshire without one of its top players, Jesse Compher. Robert Morris took Minnesota to OT, Ohio State kept Wisconsin close until an empty netter, and Syracuse made Northeastern work. I'm not sold on this trend yet, but it's something to keep an eye on.
Up: Boston College's non-conference winning streak
The Eagles opened the season 2-0 with non-conference wins over Wisconsin and Colgate. More importantly, the Eagles opened the season with non-conference wins. Until defeating Harvard in the 2019 Beanpot, Boston College went without a win in 25 straight non-conference games.
If this is a new BC team, as Boston College likes to present itself this season, getting two in one weekend puts the Eagles in a new direction from Hockey East success and Pairwise struggles.
Down: Darkhorse Atlantic Hockey picks
Turns out non-conference play didn't go well for any team who could be an Atlantic Hockey dark horse. Sacred Heart? Swept by Penn State. Air Force? Blew a 2-0 lead and swept by a Cale Morris-less Notre Dame. Bentley? Swept by Robert Morris to open its Atlantic Hockey run a week after RMU was swept by Michigan Tech. Niagara? One of the only teams to not open the season.
Even AIC was swept in a home-and-home series with Quinnipiac. So far success has been with teams outside the trendy picks with Mercyhurst going .500, RIT beating Colgate then Bowling Green in OT in the Ice Breaker, Army beating UConn, and Holy Cross, which we'll get to later.
Up: Pietila goals at Michigan Tech
Hello. It's been a while.
#NCAAHockey Plays of the Week 🏒— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) October 15, 2019
3️⃣ | Logan Pietila with a sick breakaway goal 🤯🤯 Short-handed and still makes the shot to score big for @mtuhky. pic.twitter.com/21FizgvFbk
Still special.
Up: New Wisconsin players expected to score goals
Both Wisconsin teams picked up newcomers with the expectation to boost their team's offense in BC transfer Daryl Watts and NTDP all-time scorer Cole Caufield. Even with those high expectations, both are hitting them. Watts leads the nation with seven goals in six games. Caufield, on the other hand, became the first Badger to score multiple goals in his first two games.
Hold: Badger men's hockey defense
In their 60 Days preview, I mentioned how Wisconsin could be the next UMass with its underclassmen if the team could get its defense and goaltending to take the next step as well. If the opening weekend, where the Badgers lost to BC 5-3 and defeated a 16 person freshman class at Merrimack 11-5, is any indication, it's a work in progress. Right now it looks like Wisconsin plans on taking the Penn State philosophy of outscoring their troubles, which should be interesting this weekend against a Minnesota Duluth team that doesn't allow many opportunities.
Speaking of PSU and Wisconsin, at this rate, any student dressing up as a goalie will be the only successful one in the building Halloween night when the two teams play.
Up: St. Cloud State shorthanded goals
Who comes back from a four-goal third-period deficit by scoring twice while killing a five-minute major? St. Cloud State, that's who.
Down: Whatever this St. Cloud State logo is supposed to be
St. Cloud State Wolfpack? pic.twitter.com/g0hsODZWoe— Mike Eidelbes (@INCH) October 13, 2019
Between coming back from 4-0 to tie Bemidji State, giving up a 2-0 lead the next night and settling for another tie, and this, let's say it was a weird weekend for the Huskies.
Up: Grad transfer goalies with quick starts
Several teams added graduate transfers in goal over the summer as a one-year stopgap. That worked out well last weekend. Clarkson's Francis Marotte stopped 70 of 72 Michigan shots in a win and tie. His replacement at Robert Morris, Justin Kappelmaster, did one better, allowing a single goal to Bentley. Northeastern's Craig Pantano helped the Huskies get off to a roaring start with three wins, including yesterday's 3-1 victory over Massachusetts.
Down: Providence
There's always an exception to the rule. For the above trend, Michael Lackey is going to be the exception to the rule. Providence was upset in its only game of the weekend by giving up a last-minute tying goal and losing to Holy Cross 3-2 in overtime. Not exactly the most earth-shattering Crusaders upset of all-time, but a step back for the Friars after making the Frozen Four and routing Maine 7-0 to open the season.
Who Won The Week? Alaska
An argument can be made for the Nanooks, who nearly upset now-No. 1 Denver on opening weekend, winning the week for sweeping Michigan Tech in Houghton. Doing so after needing to get a bus unstuck clinches it (click through for the thread).
While we wait for puck-drop at MTU, let’s relive Wednesday’s bus adventure 🚌— Alaska Hockey (@NanooksHockey) October 11, 2019
A short story; courtesy of Alaska Hockey equipment manager, Thomas Carroll.
Congrats Alaska on winning the week.
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