NCAA on NBCSN: No. 15 Fighting Irish host Alabama-Huntsville

By Joe YerdonJan 10, 2014, 2:14 PM EDT
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NBCSN continues its coverage of the 2013-14 college hockey season tonight when the No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-8-1) host the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (1-21-0) at the Compton Family Ice Arena with coverage starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can also catch the game online at NBC Sports Live Extra. 

There’s quite the juxtaposition of circumstances on display in South Bend this weekend. Notre Dame heads into their two-game set with Alabama-Huntsville ranked 15th in the USCHO.com poll and sit eighth in Hockey East. The ranking is nice, but coach Jeff Jackson would certainly like his team to turn things up in the second half.

The Irish are coming off a thrilling loss to Boston College at Frozen Fenway in Boston last week. Having to contain both Bill Arnold and Johnny Gaudreau for a single game is asking a lot and it was Gaudreau who scored the game-winner midway through the third period.

Notre Dame has other issues, however. They have just two wins in their last seven games and one of those was a 5-2 victory against UAH in the Shillelagh Tournament. Losing to BC and UMass-Lowell is one thing, but splitting a weekend set with UMass before winter break doesn’t look so good. Goalie Steven Summerhays has held strong but they’ll need more from T.J. Tynan and Mario Lucia (pictured) if they’re going to storm into the Hockey East playoffs.

Saturday night’s game between these same teams will be streamed on NBC Live Extra on NBCSports.com at 7 p.m. ET.

The Chargers, however, have had a rough go of it in their first season in the WCHA. They have the worst record in college hockey and their lone win came on the road at Bowling Green in overtime. UAH’s top scorer is freshman Matt Salhany with seven points. Their top goal man is sophomore forward Chad Brears with four.

As a team they’ve scored just 22 goals this season. Yes, they’re averaging exactly one goal per game. Ouch.

While goals have been hard to come by, goaltending has been a struggle as well as they split time between a pair of freshmen, Carmine Guerriero and Matt Larose. For first-year coach Mike Corbett, accommodating to life in Alabama has been a struggle. It sure beats having the program being on the brink of being eliminated though.

NHL Draftees

Notre Dame – Forwards: Vince Hinostroza (FR – Blackhawks), T.J. Tynan (SR – Blue Jackets), Austin Wuthrich (JR – Capitals), Bryan Rust (SR – Penguins), Jeff Costello (SR – Senators), Mario Lucia (SO – Wild), Steven Fogarty (SO – Rangers), Thomas DiPauli (SO – Capitals).

Defense: Robbie Russo (JR -Islanders), Stephen Johns (SR – Blackhawks), Kevin Lind (SR – Ducks)

Alabama-Huntsville — None

Back To Class: The WCHA did the right thing for Alabama-Huntsville

By Joe YerdonJan 21, 2013, 8:00 AM EDT
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We’re taking you “Back To Class” for our roundup of the weekend’s action in college hockey. Look for more college hockey on NBCSN this Friday night as No. 12 Yale takes on No. 16 Cornell. 

Back in the fall of 2011, the University of Alabama-Huntsville interim president was set to cut the hockey program entirely only to see it saved by alumni and fans of the program alike. Their only problem was they didn’t have a conference to play in. They were the only school to play as an independent the past  few seasons. They wanted into the CCHA after the CHA closed up shop only to see that conference vote to keep them out.

Fast-forward to today and we see the CCHA will no longer exist thanks to the creation of the Big Ten Hockey Conference as well as the NCHC and those left behind there are joining the new WCHA. Funny thing about the WCHA is they had an odd number of teams and it made too much sense not to approve bringing UAH aboard. That’s precisely what they voted to do last week, saving the program.

It was the right move by the WCHA to extend the invite and while it comes with some big risks, making the effort to save a program in desperate need of partnership was needed. College hockey is as niche as it gets amongst big time NCAA sports. With 58 programs participating, losing teams does the sport no favors and allowing one to wither and die would’ve been egregious.

Yes, the travel will be rough in the new WCHA with not just UAH but also both Alaska schools there. The costs will be high and that’s where the risk comes into play. But they had to try and make it work. The travel costs can and will be covered and college hockey saves a supported program in need. It’s the feel-good story folks in Huntsville have been praying for, now we can just hope it all turns out for the best.

***

Minnesota-North Dakota rivalry ends in a thrill: The Golden Gophers and formerly Fighting Sioux duked it out in classic fashion in the Twin Cities as the Gophers came away with a big win Friday and a classic 4-4 draw on Saturday. With each team heading to different conferences next season, they won’t see each other for at least the next three seasons putting a sad end to a classic rivalry. Here’s to hoping they’ll meet in the NCAA tournament the next three seasons instead and save Don Lucia a bit of grief.

River Hawks are flying: Look out for UMass-Lowell in Hockey East. They’re winners of nine in a row including a big win over BU on Saturday night. They were an NCAA tournament team last year losing to Union in the East Region final. Sophomore forward Scott Wilson has been lighting it up and goalies Connor Hellebuyck and Doug Carr have buckled down. With UNH cooling off and BU riding a roller coaster of sorts, Lowell is poised to shake things up.

Speaking of roller coasters, the ECAC: What a wild weekend in the ECAC. Yale continues to play strong sweeping Harvard and Dartmouth. Cornell dealt Union a harsh blow to their hopes of making a run at first place beating them on Friday, but then stumbled themselves losing 3-2 to RPI on Saturday. RPI’s weekend sweep over Colgate and Cornell got them up to 7th in the standings. Meanwhile, Quinnipiac is in first by eight points with Yale lurking behind them.

Remember how I said this conference would cannibalize itself? It’s dinner time now.

(Photo: Jim Rosvold – USCHO.com)

Back to Class: A pair of North Dakota prospects are on fire

By Joe YerdonJan 14, 2013, 8:00 AM EDT
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We’re taking you “Back To Class” for our roundup of the weekend’s action in college hockey. Look for more college hockey on NBCSN this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET as Harvard takes on Yale. 

North Dakota is climbing their way up the rankings and they’ve got a pair of senior forwards to thank for that.

Corban Knight, a Florida Panthers prospect, and Danny Kristo, a Canadiens prospect, are as on fire as hockey players can get. Knight has scored a point in 17-straight games while Kristo has been white-hot with 16 points in his last six games. Knight’s 31 points on the season are good enough to put him second in the country while Kristo’s 30 tie him with two other players for third.

Meanwhile, the two have combined to pile up 31 points together over their last seven games. Who do they think they are, Gretzky and Kurri?

With the kind of offensive heat they’re bringing, North Dakota has surged because of it. While they split their weekend series with Colorado College over the weekend, their record over their last nine games is fantastic at 7-1-1. As of this writing, they’re No. 7 in the country in the USA Hockey/USA Today poll and they’re one point out of the top spot in the WCHA.

If North Dakota is to continue their climb to the top, the road ahead won’t help them. Their next three weekends see them visit the top-ranked Gophers and then host St. Cloud State and resurgent Wisconsin. The WCHA is a meat grinder as it is, but UND is about to find out if their young guns have what it takes to lead them to first place.

***

Crucial week for Alabama-Huntsville: The future of the Chargers’ hockey program may be decided at this week’s NCAA convention. It would be really, really, really, really, really nice if the WCHA would lend a hand and invite them to the conference. Being the only independent team in college hockey is killing this program.

Quinnipiac keeps on rolling: We might as well keep tabs on the Bobcats’ ridiculous roll. While they tied Rensselaer on Friday, they came back from down 2-0 to beat Union 3-2 on Saturday. They’re still unbeaten in the ECAC (11-0-1) and they’re 14-0-2 in their last 16 games. They’re 10 points ahead in their conference. Good hockey is definitely being played in Connecticut.

Wolverines struggling: One team that’s a mainstay atop the CCHA standings is usually Michigan. Not so much this year. This year they’re tied for eighth with Michigan State and the losses are piling up all over. They’ve lost three in a row at home (two to Alaska, one to Bowling Green) and over their last 14 games, they’ve gone 3-10-1. Poor goaltending is killing them and Red Berenson cannot be pleased.

Games of the weekend: North Dakota vs. Minnesota duke it out twice and that’s as good as it gets. Miami and Wisconsin doing an out-of-conference double-dip is worth a watch as well.

(Photo: UND Athletics)

Back to Class: The trouble with being No. 1

By Joe YerdonDec 10, 2012, 8:30 AM EDT

We’re taking you “Back To Class” for our roundup of the weekend’s action in college hockey. Look for more college hockey on NBCSN Friday night, January 4 as Nebraska-Omaha takes on Colorado College. 

It’s never easy being the top dog. In college football, being the No. 1 team means always having to watch your back when the voters deem you to be the best team in the land and it’s no different in college hockey. A pair of Hockey East teams learned that in the last couple of weeks and it was the same team that taught them that lesson. Jim Connelly of USCHO.com examines things a bit closer.

Two weeks ago, Boston College’s run as the top team in the country came to an end thanks to a 4-1 loss to Boston University. When New Hampshire took over as the No. 1 team this week, again it would be BU teaching them a lesson on Thursday taking them out with a 3-2 victory.

Being the top dog is never easy. Ever. It puts an instant target on your back to have everyone come after you. Seeing how it was BU that managed to earn wins in two out of three games against top-ranked opponents, it makes you believe Jack Parker’s team has a little something extra to their game.

Considering Boston University was ranked No. 7 in the country last Monday, they’re due for a boost after beating UNH and Maine. They might want to avoid the top spot for the time being.

***

So long, Cissé: Redshirt sophomore Yasin Cissé left Boston University to pick up and play for QMJHL Blainville-Broisbriand and BU coach Jack Parker was more than honest in his assessment of his game. “He’s really struggling in every phase of his life because hockey’s not going the way he wants it to go.” Uh… Ouch. For what it’s worth, Cissé scored a goal in his first game with Blainville-Broisbriand.

So about that “Yerdon Jinx”: Denver University has gone winless in six straight games after tying North Dakota on Friday night and losing 6-3 to the former Fighting Sioux on Saturday. When I highlighted the Pioneers a couple weeks ago, I thought their bad weekend losing to Yale and UNH was curious. I didn’t think it signaled a full-on early season meltdown.

Yale’s bad weekend: The Yale Bulldogs were starting to let their presence be known in the ECAC. That is until RPI and Union showed up at The Whale this weekend and took three of four points from them. An embarrassing 6-1 loss to Rensselaer and a 2-2 tie with the Dutchmen should take Yale down a notch after cracking the USA Hockey/USA Today polls at 15 last week.

Alabama-Huntsville’s plight: While things are rough this season for the UAH Chargers, they’re still plugging along in hopes of landing a spot in the WCHA for the future. Matt Semsich of USCHO.com has a good piece on what coach Kurt Kleinendorst has to deal with in a tough position there.

(Photo: UNH’s Kevin Goumas — Hockey East Online)

PHT Morning Skate: Where Phil Esposito is still hardcore about the Summit Series

By Joe YerdonSep 26, 2012, 8:45 AM EDT
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PHT’s Morning Skate takes a look around the world of hockey to see what’s happening and what we’ll be talking about around the NHL world and beyond.

Phil Esposito sounds as if he could play the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union all over again right now. (Calgary Sun)

It must be Blake Wheeler day at the Winnipeg Sun, but Ken Wiebe has a great story about how Claude Noel lit a fire under him last season. (Winnipeg Sun)

Young forward Brett Connolly will get some needed time to work on his game in Syracuse in the AHL. (The Tampa Tribune)

Many Oilers forwards and prospects are eating it up in Europe already. Sure beats Seattle, right? Ahh, jokes. (Edmonton Journal)

Former Binghamton Senators coach Kurt Kleinendorst landed a new job as head coach the University of Alabama-Huntsville hockey team, replacing Chris Luongo. (The Huntsville Times)

Finally, check out Nikolay Zherdev’s goal for Atlant in the KHL. (KHL-YouTube)