Monday, December 30, 2019

Weekend in Review: Quinnipiac vs Princeton

Quinnipiac sweeps Princeton for the second consecutive year
The second half of the season is officially underway and for Quinnipiac they got off to a great start with a sweep of the weekend series against the Princeton Tigers winning 3-1 and 4-3 in a home and home slate that began at Hobey Baker Rink on Saturday followed by the last home game in Hamden this decade on Sunday. It is the second consecutive year that Quinnipiac has swept Princeton. Here are my thoughts from the weekend games.

- How big were these four points for Quinnipiac? They moved from 10th to 5th in the ECAC standings in just a weekend and now have once again positioned themselves for a first round bye and home ice. Had the Bobcats got swept or even split it might have been a bit tougher to gain home ice but now its back in play for the Bobcats.

- It was a tale of two games for Quinnipiac who got off to a hot start in the first leg of the weekend series jumping on Princeton with two goals in the first period before getting a late power play goal from Wyatt Bongiovanni to win 3-1. Sunday night, the Bobcats fell down 2-0 and 3-2 before rallying and winning 4-3 with a late goal by Bongiovanni again. The sophomore leads Quinnipiac with 8 goals this season.

- Congratulations to junior Odeen Tufto who reached 100 points as a junior with his second assist of the night on Sunday. Tufto had a four point weekend with a goal and three assists after ending the first half of the season with four straight scoreless games. They are going to need more games like we saw over the weekend from Tufto down stretch if Quinnipiac wants to go deep into March.

- It was a big weekend for the Quinnipiac sophomores who had ten points and five of the seven goals. If the Bobcats are going to have a second half resurgence then its going to have to be the sophomore class that carries them. Wyatt Bongiovanni and Zach Metsa had three point weekends while Peter Diliberatore had a goal and assist.

- The Quinnipiac defense is starting to gain steam offensively. Four goals this weekend including two from Zach Metsa, one from Peter Diliberatore and the first collegiate goal from freshman Jayden Lee. They were also solid in their own end as well which will be key in the second half of the season.

- Don't look now but junior goaltender Keith Petruzzelli has continued his strong play from the end of the first half of the season. He was stellar on Saturday night with a 34 save effort and while he only had 23 saves on Saturday, he made some spectacular saves to keep Quinnipiac in the game. In 17 games this season he is 9-6-1 with a 2.26 goals against and a .914 save percentage. He continues to get better each week and has solidified the goal-tending position for the Bobcats especially after the early season struggles. I would expect Rand Pecknold to ride Petruzzelli all the way to March now.

- Quinnipiac played a very disciplined game this weekend not being penalized on Saturday and only having two minor penalties. If this team can play this way down the stretch it should bold well for them. Stay out of the box and just do your job and good things will happen.

- We saw the first game action this season for defensemen Marcus Chorney as Logan Britt did not play this weekend. Its unknown if this was due to injury or something else but Quinnipiac already lost two defensemen in Cam Boudreau and Wyatt Head who both departed back to the junior ranks after not playing in the first semester. Depth is now a concern back there with the losses so I wonder if getting game action for Chorney will help in case of other injury situations.

- Quinnipiac has two more big home games against Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend before a North Country trip. Harvard crushed Quinnipiac 7-2 in early November while the Bobcats skated to a 2-2 tie with Dartmouth. With Harvard tied for second in the league and Dartmouth tied with Quinnipiac for 5th currently, these are four huge points up for grabs this weekend that could determine where Quinnipiac finishes. Outside of a non-conference game against Holy Cross and the Connecticut Ice tournament, its all ECAC games from here on out.


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Friday, December 27, 2019

Weekend Preview: Princeton Tigers

Captain Karlis Cukste and Quinnipiac open the second half of the season this weekend

Princeton Head Coach: Ron Fogarty (6th season)

2019-2020 Princeton record: 2-8-3 (0-4-2 ECAC)

All-time vs. Princeton: Quinnipiac leads series 17-12-1

Princeton Key Players: Jackson Cressey (F), Corey Andonovski (F), Christian O'Neill (F), Lima Grande (F), Spencer Kersten (F), Derek Topatigh (D), Matthew Thom (D)  Ryan Ferland (G)

Quinnipiac is set to open the second half of the season this weekend with a home and home with the Princeton Tigers. It has been a tough start to the season for Ron Fogarty's team struggling to a 2-8-3 record in the first half of the season. The Tigers got cleaned out after last season losing four of their top five scorers which accounted for 127 of the 229 points for Princeton. Gone are Ryan Kuffner, Max Veronneau, Alex Riche and Josh Teves and it has been a struggle to replace that production so far for Princeton. A team that failed to live up to expectations last year has really fallen off this season with the lack of high end talent up front and inconsistent play on the back end.

When you lose the likes of Kuffner, Veronneau and Riche up front, its expected that goals will be hard to come by. So far that has been the case for Princeton who have averaged 1.92 goals per game this season. Senior Jackson Cressey (11 points) and sophomore Corey Andonovski (11 points) have led the way for the Tigers this season but they aren't getting a lot of help from the younger players who need to step up for Princeton in order to replace the talent that was lost. The Tigers power play which used to be a huge strength has fallen off to 15.5% this season.

Princeton's defense this season is giving up 3.15 goals per game. The Tigers just have not much consistency on the blue line as they have been moving different players in and out of the line up. Captain Derek Topatigh has probably been Princeton's best defensemen on this young season. Having Reid Yochim limited to just five games has hurt as well. He has really taken a step back from his strong freshman season when he had 14 points. Since his strong freshman year he has only two assists in his last 36 games played. Princeton however has excelled on the penalty kill at 84.8% this season so that is an area where they can look to have an edge on Quinnipiac.

Goal-tending has been an issue for the Tigers as Ryan Ferland has really struggled this season with a 1-5-2 record and a 3.12 goals against average in eight games. This has opened the door for both sophomore Jeremie Forget and freshman Aidan Porter getting some playing time. Forget has actually been the Tigers best goaltender going 1-1 in four games with a 1.98 goal against average. The lack of consistent goal-tending is one of the reasons why Princeton has struggled so far this season.

After sweeping the Tigers last season, Quinnipiac comes into this series in a must win position and need to sweep Princeton again. They are 10th in the ECAC standings and need to add ECAC points in order to potentially avoid going on the road in the first round.


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Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Defensemen Nick Bochen commits to Quinnipiac

Nick Bochen (photo by Prince George Spruce Kings, BCHL)
Quinnipiac picked up a new commit just eight days before Christmas with the news that 2001 born defensemen Nick Bochen has committed to the program for the 2020-2021 according to Jeff Cox. Bochen is a former University of Michigan commit who has played the past two seasons for the Prince George Spruce Kings in the BCHL.
Bochen, native of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is a 5'9, 175 pound right shot defensemen who has a 2-11-13 line in 22 games with Prince George this season. Both of his goals have come via the power play. As a 17 year old last year in 58 games played put up a 8-30-38 stat line with another six points in the playoffs.

A move for a defensemen for next season was expected with the departures of Cam Boudreau and Wyatt Head back to the junior ranks. Bochen will be expected to be a contributor day one as Quinnipiac has to replace Karlis Cukste next fall and possibly Peter Diliberatore should he depart early for a pro contract.

Links


Elite Prospects Player Page
BCHL Player Page


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Monday, December 2, 2019

Weekend in Review: Quinnipiac vs. Massachusetts

Quinnipiac split a weekend series with #10 UMass

The first half of the season officially came to an end on Saturday as Quinnipiac ended the first half on a high note with a 2-1 win over UMass Amherst snapping the 16 game unbeaten streak of the Minutemen at the Mullins Center in the process. The team finished the first half 7-7-1 after a weekend split against UMass and there are areas where the team should be encouraged with. Here are my thoughts and observations from the weekend series.

- Quinnipiac played hard on Friday despite losing 3-0 and had some bad breaks in the game which UMass was able to capitalize on. The two teams played a period and a half of scoreless before the Minutemen broke through on a redirected goal by Keith Petruzzelli. UMass next scored via a power play on an undisciplined play by Joe O'Connor who took an unnecessary slashing penalty. UMass captain Mitchell Chaffee sealed the victory with a short handed empty net goal.

- Despite the loss of Cale Makar among others, UMass still has a really solid team this year that should challenge for another NCAA tournament berth. They play hard and didn't quit Saturday despite trailing by two goals. While they probably won't reach the same heights as last season, they are still building something special under Greg Carvel in Amherst for a program that should be really good for years to come. 

- The ECAC officials were awful in this game letting this game become chippy to the point of being borderline out of control. The non-call to the head of Quinnipiac's William Fallstrom was flat out embarrassing as Fallstrom never returned to the game and missed the following nights game. These are plays that need to be called correctly. That should have been a five minute power play for Quinnipiac and the result of this was the O'Connor slashing penalty leading to the second goal for UMass.

- Despite losing this game, Keith Petruzzelli stood out with some really spectacular play and he carried that into the following night when he helped win a big game on the road when the Bobcats were desperate. He stopped 52 shots on the weekend as both his goals against average and save percentage continue to trend in the right direction. The hope is that the break won't stop the momentum the junior has right now as he has really been a strong presence in between the pipes.

- The defense has really turned the corner in my mind. They went into the season talented but very inexperienced but the play by the blue line over the weekend was very solid especially on Saturday night. They are retrieving pucks and moving them out of the zone quickly. While there is an occasional turnover here and there, the way they have played the last six games should be a plus for the second half of the season.

- Quinnipiac's offensive struggles were on display again this past weekend as they just scored two goals the entire weekend. The offense was suppose to be one of the teams strengths but they are really hurting the team right now. While they have a lot of young players, the sophomores who were freshman a season ago haven't built off what they did last season. They need more from the players up front if they want to make a second half run and be a dangerous team in conference play.

- The power play is still having issues and Quinnipiac needs to use the break in order to figure a way to get that corrected as they can't continue to be in the 12% range on the man advantage. They have been slow moving the puck and not getting quality shots off. Good to great power plays excel at moving the puck quickly and not having a lot of indecision with the puck which is what is happening now with Quinnipiac.

- One area Quinnipiac has excelled with is winning face-offs. The face-off win percentage is at 54.4% which ties them for 5th in the country with Alaska. They need to is use that to their advantage to create puck possession in the offensive zone which will lead to more quality scoring chances.

- Next on tap for Quinnipiac is a home and home with the Princeton Tigers on December 28th and 29th. These next three weeks will hopefully get the Bobcats in a better place mentally and physically so they can attack in the second half come the end of Decemeber.


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Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Weekend Preview: Massachusetts Minutemen

Ethan de Jong and Quinnipiac have a home and home series with Massachusetts

UMass Head Coach: Greg Carvel (4th season)

2019-2020 UMass record: 8-3-1 (4-3-1 Hockey East)

All-time vs. UMass: Quinnipiac leads series 8-5-2

UMass Key Players: Mitchell Chaffee (F), John Leonard (F), Bobby Trivigno (F), Oliver Chau (F), Reed Lebster (F), Zac Jones (D), Colin Felix (D) Marc Del Gaizo (D), Matt Murray (G), Filip Lindberg (G)

No team had a bigger turnaround in the 2018-2019 season than Massachusetts. A season after winning just 17 games, the Minutemen improved by 14 wins to set a program record with 31. They also made the first ever Frozen Four in program history but fell short of the National Championship when Minnesota Duluth beat them in the title game to repeat as champions. Cale Makar has departed after a 49 point season which culminated in the Hobey Baker Award. They also lost Mario Ferraro early to the pros while key forward Jacob Pritchard and Brett Boeing graduated. Massachusetts still returns a ton of talent to a team that is likely to reach the NCAA tournament again.

Losing Jacob Pritchard was big for Massachusetts but they returned a lot of talent up front. Mitchell Chaffee already has 10 goals in 12 games played this season including three power play goals. John Leonard is also off to another good start with seven goals while Oliver Chau who had a down season last year already has eight points. Massachusetts is getting some good freshman production from Reed Lebster and Cal Kiefiuk who each have seven points. The Minutemen power play has struggled this season much like Quinnipiac's and that will happen when you lose players like Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro. They are right behind Quinnipiac in power play percentage at just a shade over 13%.

While a defensive drop was expected a bit with the losses of Makar and Ferraro, it has not been that much as the Minutemen are tied for 10th in the country in goals allowed at 2.08. Freshman Zac Jones is the teams second leading scorer with 11 points while sophomores Ty Farmer, Colin Felix and freshman Matthew Kessel provide solid depth. They have been solid defensively and this has been without their best returning defensemen in the lineup, Marc Del Gaizo who has played only two games this season. When he gets back to full health, this defense should be even better. The penalty kill is an area when Massachusetts has excelled this season at 88.7% which is 8th best in the country. Expect the Minutemen to make it hard on a Quinnipiac offense that has been struggling to score goals this season fight and claw for every inch of the ice this weekend.

The Minutemen have probably the best goalie tandem in the country between Matt Murray and Filip Lindberg. They are pretty even statistically so its essentially a coin flip who Greg Carvel will go with. Matt Murray has the better goals against at 1.84 compared to 1.97 for Lindberg but its the save percentage where Lindberg has Murray beat at .915 compared to .902. The save percentage numbers are down for the two of them but when you lose players like Makar and Ferraro that should be expected.

These are two different teams than the ones that split a series last year and while Massachusetts may not be as good as last year, they still look like they are an NCAA team while Quinnipiac has shown inconsistent play from week to week and hasn't looked like a team that will be playing in late March. At this point in the season with how the Bobcats have played and who they have lost to, these could be considered must win games if this team wants any chance at an at-large tournament berth. Otherwise the only path might be to win the league tournament in Lake Placid.


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Monday, November 25, 2019

Q&A with Quinnipiac commit Ty Smilanic

Ty Smilanic signing his national letter of intent with Quinnipiac (photo by USNTDP)

Quinnipiac received the biggest commitment in program history on November 20th when one of the top uncommitted 2002 U.S. born players in Ty Smilanic made his college decision official by choosing Quinnipiac over teams such as North Dakota along with a few other unknown programs. Smilanic is by far the best player ever to commit to Quinnipiac and could be the first player drafted in the first round of the NHL draft to ever come to Hamden when the draft commences in June of 2020. Smilanic is currently finishing his last year of junior hockey with prestigious United States National Team Development Program which is a collection of the best American born players in the U-18 and U-17 age brackets. Thank you to Ty for taking time out of his schedule to do this Q&A so Bobcat Nation can get to know the newest member of the 2020-2021 roster.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: First off congratulations on signing your national letter of intent with Quinnipiac.  What are your emotions like after making your college decision?

Ty Smilanic: I'm pretty happy to have the whole situation just behind me and couldn’t be more happy with my decision right now. I am just soaking up all the emotions right now.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: How did this whole process come about? I must say this came out of left field and was one of the most shocking, yet satisfying commitments in Quinnipiac history.

Ty Smilanic: I took a visit to the campus and just fell in love with the school, the coaching staff, and just all the players. They made me feel like home and made me feel appreciated.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: Your the first grade A prospect that Quinnipiac ever landed in the programs Division I history. Was there anything specific that the coaching staff told you that made you say that Quinnipiac will be my future college destination?

Ty Smilanic: It wasn’t necessarily anything they said, but I could tell that they cared about me as a person and as a player. I felt that with how much they cared, this was the best place for me to develop on and off the ice.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: Quinnipiac has recently put some good players in the NHL such as Devon Toews with the New York Islanders and Connor Clifton with the Boston Bruins but none as highly touted as you. In my opinion, I feel that the Quinnipiac coaching staff is a staff that could get the most out of you as a player during your time at Quinnipiac in helping you prepare for the professional level. Is that something you would agree with as they have taken lesser talent and hidden gems and really developed it into NHL players?

Ty Smilanic: Hundred percent. I couldn’t agree more myself. The way they have been developing players in recent years is astonishing and I can’t wait to be a part of that myself. With a coaching staff that cares as much as they do and a hockey player that loves the game as much as I do, that’s a recipe for a lot of good things to come.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: This is a program that has been to two Frozen Fours and five NCAA tournaments since 2013 but has yet to land a potential first round pick until you committed. Do you feel that you as a player committing to Quinnipiac will open that door where other United States National Team Development Program players who are potential high to mid round picks will look to consider Quinnipiac in future years?

Ty Smilanic:  I didn’t really commit to Quinnipiac to open doors for the future, that wasn’t really my motivation. My motivation was to play with the players that I got to meet and to get coached by the coaches I met. However, if me coming here does open doors in the future for more players to follow my path, hopefully that just means good things for this program.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: Your playing for Seth Appert who formally coached RPI in the ECAC. What is he like as a coach and it seems like he has really developed some kids in the past few years with many first round picks especially last year?

Ty Smilanic: He is actually a big reason for me opening my eyes to Quinnipiac. In these two years he’s developed me to become more of a complete player and I am very thankful to have a coach like that. I see a lot of similarities between coach Appert and coach Pecknold.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: Your scouting report is this. Powerful stride with separational speed, puts defenders on their heels and can launch the puck on goal. Skilled and strong and responsible defensively. On paper that is a pretty strong scouting report of you but are their any areas of your game that you feel that need to be improved upon before reaching Hamden?

Ty Smilanic: I want to be a complete 200-foot player that can be trusted in any situation of the game. So I need to work on my defensive zone play so that is probably the biggest thing for sure.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: Is their a player in today’s game that you try to model your game after and if so why?

Ty Smilanic: Being from Colorado, I love watching Nathan MacKinnon. I love how he plays the game with so much speed and plays every shift with so much competitiveness. He is for sure the player I try to model my game after.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: To this point in your life, who has been your biggest influence to get you to this point of playing college hockey and on the brink of being a high NHL draft pick?

Ty Smilanic: Without a doubt I have to give that one to my parents. They were the ones that drove me to the rink every day and were at every single game growing up. I wouldn’t be anywhere that I am today without them.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: What’s it like having scouts from 31 NHL teams consistently watching you and at this point in the season have you had a ton of contact with them?

Ty Smilanic: Yes I have talk to a good amount of NHL teams. It is nerve-racking but I’ve learned as time is going on that I just need to play my game and the rest will figure itself out. I love having the pressure on me as it makes me play at a higher level.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: What should the Quinnipiac community expect from Ty Smilanic on and off the ice?

Ty Smilanic: I'm just a really smiley kid that loves to play the game of hockey and loves to play the game really fast. I am also willing to do whatever it takes to get Quinnipiac the first National Championship in program history.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: What does Ty Smilanic like to do when he is not playing hockey?

Ty Smilanic: I love spending time with my family. Whether that’s going to a sporting event together or just spending a night on the couch watching television. They have built me to the person I am today and continue to this day keep making me a better person.

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Saturday, November 23, 2019

Weekend in Review: Cornell/Colgate

Rand Pecknold's team was swept on the weekend in upstate New York (file photo)
It was a lost weekend for the Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey as they got swept in upstate New York against Cornell and Colgate by scores of 2-1 and 3-1 respectively. After a home sweep last weekend, the hope was for Quinnipiac to at least get a split of the weekend series before the final two games of the first half of the season this weekend against Massachusetts. Here are my thoughts of the weekend that was for Quinnipiac hockey.

- Despite the loss Friday night, I thought Quinnipiac played its best game of the season. They went toe to toe with the number two team in their building and came up short by a single goal. Quinnipiac competed hard and never gave up against a more talented Big Red team that has a team that can reach the Frozen Four in Detroit this year. The officiating in this game wasn't good and William Fallstrom should have been assessed a two minute penalty not a five minute major on his hit late in the third period. Even though they lost, this game will help Quinnipiac in the long run as they look to become a better team in the second half of the season.

- Saturday night was another story. A game that Quinnipiac really needed to have they lost it. They got behind against Colgate, though tied it on the power play yet let in two third period goals including an empty net one to finish the weekend with zero ECAC points. That isn't a great Colgate team they played either but they had more jump in their step than Quinnipiac did.

- Captain Nick Jermain tied his career high with five goals with a goal in the Cornell game. That number should be eclipsed by a bunch by the time the season ends barring good health. Jermain reminds me of former Quinnipiac captain Cory Hibbeler as they both good leaders who were similar sized players that didn't score a ton as they did the little things in order to win.

- I've criticized the inconsistent play of Keith Petruzzelli at times but he was by far the best player this weekend for Quinnipiac. He kept the Bobcats in the game against Cornell with 20 saves with a few highlight ones and Saturday he was strong again with 22 saves including more highlight ones. This is four really solid games in a row for Petruzzelli who looks like he is becoming more comfortable each time out on the ice.

- Petruzzelli was more than good enough for the Bobcats to win this weekend but the offense for Quinnipiac which was expected to be a strength is failing this team. Two goals on the weekend just isn't going to cut it and one of them came on the man advantage. Friday I can excuse the one goal against a stout Cornell team with the best goaltender in the league. But Saturday one goal against a Colgate team that is sub .500 is inexcusable. The offense looked like it had heavy feet and they weren't playing well together. They had 34 shots on goal but not a ton of grade A chances. They may have to shuffle the lineup to see if things can get going because the month of November has not been kind to Quinnipiac as an offense as they have only scored three goals in a game twice this month.

- The power play is still having massive issues. They went zero for five on Friday night before going one for four on Saturday against Colgate. There is a lot of indecision on the power play along with slow passes and not a lot of shots. This gives the opponents easier opportunities to clear the puck and less time in the offensive zone. 

- The defense on this team is starting to come around. They are blocking shots as the defenders blocked 13 shots on the weekend. They are starting to move the puck out of the zone along with playing smart in their own end. Expect this defense to continue to get better as the season progresses as they have talent back on the blue line though it is inexperienced.

- Its the final two games of the first half, Quinnipiac will have a big challenge when they face the 2019 National Runner-Up in Massachusetts. Despite losing Cale Makar to the NHL, the Minutemen still return a strong team that is experienced and knows how to win games. They also have two really good goaltenders they can turn to and are well coached by Greg Carvel. This will be a big challenge for Quinnipiac and with the way the Bobcats are playing right now especially on offense, I think getting a split would be good accomplishment and a good way to end the first half of the season.

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Thursday, November 21, 2019

Weekend Preview: Cornell/Colgate

Keith Petruzzelli, the reining ECAC goaltender of week has a big test against Cornell

Cornell Head Coach: Mike Schaefer (25th Season)

2019-2020 Cornell record: 6-0 (4-0 ECAC)

All-time vs. Cornell: Cornell leads 22-17-4

Cornell Key Players: Morgan Barron (F), Cam Donaldson (F), Max Andreev (F), Michael Regush (F), Brendan Locke (F), Yanni Kaldis (D), Sam Malinski (D), Alex Green (D), Matthew Galajda (G)

Quinnipiac has what likely will be their biggest test of the season when they travel to Lynah Rink to face #2 Cornell who are also #1 in the pairwise rankings. The preseason ECAC pick to win the league, the Big Red are also one of the teams that has a real chance to get to Detroit for the Frozen Four. This has a chance to be the best Cornell team since 2003 when they reached the Frozen Four. They are that talented as they are a team that can score, play defense and have a top goaltender. Factor in a home ice advantage and this will surely be a difficult match-up on paper for Quinnipiac.

The Big Red have the second best offense in the county at 4.83 goals per game behind the Harvard Crimson. Led by junior Morgan Barron who is off to a blazing start with 12 points in six games, Cornell features seven players averaging more than a point per game. Brendan Locke and Max Andreev each have seven points on two goals and five assists. Cam Donaldson and Michael Regush are off to good starts as well with six and five points respectively. Prized freshman commit Matt Stienburg a third round pick of the Colorado Avalanche has yet to get going with only one assist in six games. Cornell has by far the best power play in the country with a deadly 42.3% conversion rate. It is imperative that Quinnipiac stays disciplined and out of the penalty box. 

The Cornell defense is also one of the stingiest in the country giving up just 1.67 goals per game. Pre-Season All-ECAC first team pick Yanni Kaldis has gotten better each and every season he has been in Ithaca. The senior captain has six points but it has been his fellow defensemen in freshman Sam Malinski (9 points, plus 8) and Alex Green (7 points, plus 4) that have really elevated this team on the defensive end. Junior defensemen Matt Cairns hasn't yet broke out offensively but has been very steady with a plus five rating. The most shocking stat for Cornell is their struggles on the penalty kill at just 70% for the season. For a team that prides itself defensively this is a number that needs to improve if they want to make a deep tournament run this year.

Matthew Galajda couldn't match his freshman year statistics but could you really expect him to? After posting a 1.51 goals against and a .939 save percentage as a freshman, Galajda had a slight drop-off to a 1.85 goals against and a .921 save percentage as a sophomore. The junior is off to a stellar start once again with a 1.67 goals against and a .926 save percentage in six games and is the backbone of the Big Red. He should be someone who sees serious NHL interest in the spring.

Colgate Head Coach: Don Vaughan (27th Season)

2019-2020 Colgate record: 2-6-1 (0-1-1 ECAC)

All-time vs. Colgate : Quinnipiac leads 23-16-2

Colgate Key Players: Bobby McMann (F), Colton Young (F), Josh McKechney (F), Jared Cockrell (F), Paul McAvoy (F), Nick Austin (D), Trevor Cosgrove (D), Mitch Benson (G)

Colgate is coming off its third losing season in the last four years and the return on the four year old Class of 1965 Arena has yet to prove to be beneficial for the Raiders. They are still struggling to attract elite talent to Hamilton despite having a shiny new rink. This season the Raiders are off to a 3-6-3 start but have competed hard and lost some close games and beat and tied some good teams including UMass Lowell and Providence. They are lacking in talent and it is hurting them.

Just as it has been a problem in past years the offense once again is struggling for Colgate. Averaging just 1.66 goals per game, the Raiders desperately need to find players that can score goals. Freshman Colton Young looks like a nice find as he has six points on the year as the teams leading scorer. Colgate doesn't have one player averaging a point per game let a lone three quarters of a point per game. They are the 4th worst offense in the country and only Union is worse than them in the ECAC. Their best player Bobby McMann is off to a slow start and needs to get going for the Raiders. Colgate by far has the worst power play in the country at 2.27% (1 of 44).

Colgate has been able to stay in games because of its defense. On the season, the Raiders are allowing 2.58 goals per game and a lot of that is due to the fact they have four upperclassmen back on the blue line. Nick Austin, Trevor Cosgrove, Jacob Panetta and Paul Meyer have logged a ton of minutes for the Raiders and have helped keep the puck out of the net. This is a Colgate defense that also has done a nice job on the penalty kill at 82.2%

Sophomore Mitch Benson has done a very solid job this season for Colgate with a 2.37 goals against average and a .913 save percentage which are better numbers than he posted a season ago. Benson is the backbone of the Colgate defense and has shown to be the most consistent Raider player this season. If Colgate wants to beat Quinnipiac, he is going to have to play a big part in making that happen with a strong performance.


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Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Quinnipiac lands game changing commit in Ty Smilanic

Ty Smilanic with the USNTDP

The Quinnipiac Bobcats landed a major commitment on Wednesday with the news from Jeff Cox that the program landed United States National Developmental Program center Ty Smilanic a potential first round pick in 2020. This is a game changer for the Quinnipiac program who have never landed a potential first round draft pick in the Rand Pecknold era.

Smilanic a native of Denver, Colorado was a former Denver Pioneers commit with the two parting ways in September of 2018. The 2002 born Smilanic is a 6'1, 177 pound left shot center shot center who has four points in two USHL games this season. He has not played since October 20th but its unknown if he has an injury.

Central Scouting has him ranked as an A rated player in their most recent rankings on November 11th. In an NHL.com article, the director of NHL Central Scouting Dan Marr had this to say about Smilanic. "He plays the game with speed, quickness, smarts and skills. What sets him apart is he's always on the puck, he's always forcing the play, always making things happen."

Many other publications have him ranked in the top 30, Smilanic should see his name called on the first night of the draft. His WHL rights are held by Regina so he is still a possible flight risk. Should Smilanic be a first round pick, Quinnipiac may only have him for a season or two but in the long run it is worth it as this may open the path to other higher end players.

Links

EliteProspects Player Page
USHL Player Page


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Saturday, November 16, 2019

Thoughts and observations from Quinnipiac's weekend sweep of Union & RPI

Quinnipiac wore their camo jersey's to honor those in the military
Quinnipiac returned to the win column this weekend with a pair of victories as they swept Union and RPI to win their first two ECAC games of the season. It was the second time Quinnipiac swept a weekend series with opening weekend against AIC being the first. The wins move the Bobcats to 6-4-1 (2-1-1 ECAC) as they head to Cornell and Colgate next weekend. Here are my thoughts and observations from the weekend slate of games.

- It was really surprising to see Quinnipiac struggle with a bad Union team on Friday. They got down early by a goal and were really sluggish in the first period.  Give Union some credit for coming out more prepared than Quinnipiac despite the talent limitations with that team. The second and third periods were better but they could only get the two goals past Darion Hanson which was enough for the win. They can get away with scoring two probably against teams like Union but against most teams scoring two won't cut it. They need more guys to produce offense from this roster.

- Saturday night featured a much improved RPI team in Dave Smith's third season at the helm. The Engineers got on the board fast when Will Reilly beat Keith Petruzzelli glove side. This was the 5th consecutive game for Quinnipiac that they gave up the first goal, a trend that really can't continue to happen. After that RPI goal it was all Quinnipiac the rest of the first period as they scored three unanswered goals. The last two periods were uneventful and pretty sluggish from Quinnipiac and they got very lucky in the third period when RPI had a 5 on 3 and had a goal waved off. It was a little surprising to see RPI goaltender Owen Savory pulled after one period and it could be a wake up call for him. Expect RPI to be much better in the second half as they contend for a top four spot in the ECAC.

- Quinnipiac had better energy this weekend along with better puck possession and passing. When the Bobcats are doing those things well they are a tough team to beat but they clearly will need to be better than what they did weekend as they will face better teams down the road.

- Karlis Cukste had an outstanding weekend on the blue line. He was Quinnipiac's best player on Friday night and was really good again Saturday against RPI. Cukste was stout in the defensive end with six blocked shots on the weekend but his offensive game was impressive as well. He a power play goal against Union and followed that up assisting on all three goals against RPI for a four point weekend. Quinnipiac needs Cukste to be at his best every game because of the youth and inexperience they have on the blue line this year. It showed this weekend.

- It took 11 games but Odeen Tufto finally got his first goal of the season. Hopefully with this first one of the way, he will go on the tear scoring now for Quinnipiac as they have some really tough games coming up with Cornell, Colgate and Massachusetts here in November. The more offense out of Tufto the better this team will be.

- Two more Bobcats also got their first goals of the season. Alex Whelan and William Fallstrom scored just 2:16 apart to give Quinnipiac a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Whelan who is coming off an injury had a two point night and three in total for the weekend as he was paired with Odeen Tufto and Wyatt Bongiovanni. Fallstrom had the eventual game winning goal and had a two point weekend for the Bobcats. Both of these players had over 20 points a season ago and were expected to have bigger production this season. Hopefully this weekend will lead to a breakout from them.

Quinnipiac swept the weekend with a 3-1 win over RPI

- Keith Petruzzelli who has been up and down of late bounced back with a strong weekend saving 40 of 42 shots in two victories. After an 0-3-1 stretch it was good to see Petruzzelli play strong in between the pipes for Quinnipiac. This was a weekend that he needed to have and he delivered. Stick tap for the junior goaltender. Petruzzelli will now go back to Lynah Rink where he suffered one of his worst games back in the 2018 ECAC Quarterfinals.

- The Quinnipiac defense looked much better this weekend outside of the first period against Union on Friday. Karlis Cukste showed he was the lead back there but they started to show they can play as a cohesive unit on the blue line. I expect the defense to get better as the season goes along as these young players get more comfortable and more experienced.

- The power play is still a work in progress after going 1 for 7 on the weekend but it was the penalty kill that showed to be very good. They killed off seven opposing power plays on the weekend including a key 5 on 3 against RPI in which they got some referee's luck with a goal waved off. The penalty kill is starting to look more like typical Quinnipiac teams of the past and that is a positive development.

- Next weekend will be the toughest road venue Quinnipiac will face this season. The Bobcats head to Lynah Rink to face the Cornell Big Red who are off to a 6-0 start and one of only two undefeated teams remaining in the country with the other being Harvard. The Big Red are loaded and a potential team that can reach the Frozen Four this year. They have scoring, a very good defense and the best goaltender in the league in Matthew Galajda who is off to another good start this season.

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Thursday, November 14, 2019

Weekend Preview: Union/RPI

Joe O'Connor and the Quinnipiac Bobcats return to Hamden after a four game road trip

Union Dutchmen

Union Head Coach: Rick Bennett (9th Season)

2019-2020 Union record: 2-10-0 (1-3-0 ECAC)

All-time vs. Union: Series tied 16-16-5

Union Key Players: Anthony Rinaldi (F), Owen Farris (F), Gabriel Seger (F), Sam Morton (F), Vas Kolias (D), Dylan Anhorn (D), Darion Hanson (G)

It's been 15 years since Union lost over 20 games in a season but they are on pace to eclipse that amount. Not since the early days of Nate Leaman have the Dutchmen been this bad but they are in the midst of a 2-10 start and haven't been competitive in many of the games. This is exactly the type of opponent that a struggling Quinnipiac team needs to face but they Bobcats have struggled against Union in the last three seasons going 0-5-1 against them. There is no better time to change that than this weekend Union having lost their last three games. 

No team was gutted up front as much as the Dutchmen were. Gone are Cole Maier, Ryan Walker, Brett Supinski and Sebastian Vidmar to graduation. Liam Morgan the top returning scorer bolted for pro hockey in Europe while Jack Adams and Parker Foo are both hurt. Union has very little up front outside of Anthony Rinaldi. This is a team that is struggling to score goals averaging only 1.5 per game this season. However is Quinnipiac good enough defensively to keep Union struggling offensively? The power play is another area of concern as they are converting on just 4 of 52 chances which is good for 7.69%.

Defensively this Union team has struggled giving up 3.42 goals per game this year as senior Vas Kolias has really struggled on the blue line. Freshman Dylan Anhorn has been their best defender and only plus player on the roster at a plus 2. Its been a rotating door of defensemen for Rick Bennett as he has yet to find consistency with a specific group of players. If there is one bright spot its the penalty kill has been solid at 84.3% this year.

Junior Darion Hanson's numbers are down but that is because the defense in front of him has really struggled. He is probably Union's best chance at an upset as he has the ability to steal games like he did a year ago as he was dominant in two games against Quinnipiac going 1-0-1 and allowing just two goals total in those games. For Union to pull an upset, Hanson will need to be stellar.

RPI Engineers

RPI Head Coach: Dave Smith (3rd Season)

2019-2020 RPI record: 4-4-0 (2-2-0 ECAC)

All-time vs. RPI: Quinnipiac leads 15-7-9

RPI Key Players: Chase Zieky (F), Patrick Polino (F), Jake Marrello (F), Ottoville Leppanen (F), Todd Burgess (F), Zach Dubinsky (F), Will Reilly (D), Simon Kjellberg (D), Owen Savory (G)

The Dave Smith era is in its third season and the Engineers are trending upwards. The first two seasons produced six and ten wins respectively and with four wins already RPI is likely to exceed last years win total by a lot. Of their four losses, RPI was competitive in three of them only struggling in a 5-2 home loss against Connecticut. For a once proud program it is good to see RPI one of the better teams again in the ECAC. While they have not made the NCAA's since 2011, the program is definitely heading in the right direction and a Lake Placid appearance should be something the Engineers strive for this season as Dave Smith looks to continue to make his mark on the RPI program.

For a team that struggled to score in the past, its been a 180 this season. RPI is averaging 3.50 goals per game which puts them in the top 15 in the country. Four players are averaging over a point per game. Its been the seniors of Chase Zieky, Patrick Polino and Jake Marrello that have led the way so far for the Engineers as they have combined for 22 points. Sophomore Ottoville Leppanen is off to a fine start with six points while freshman Zach Dubinsky has four. RPI is getting contributions from everyone and its showing with their play. Quinnipiac needs to be wary of the RPI power play which has excelled this season to a tune of 26.67% (8 of 30).

RPI is solid defensively and has a young defense much like Quinnipiac and the Engineer defensemen will probably will improve as the season goes along as well. Senior Will Reilly is the leader back on the blue line and also the teams leading scorer who is also a weapon on the power play. Quinnipiac will need to account for him whenever he is on the ice. Freshman Simon Kjellberg, a New York Rangers draft pick has given some added skill and size to the blue line.

Sophomore goaltender Owen Savory is one of the better goaltenders in the ECAC. Named to the ECAC All-Rookie team at the end of last season, Savory has picked up where he left off. Coming into this weekend he is 3-3 with a 2.36 goals against and a .917 save percentage. Last season he stopped 35 shots against Quinnipiac in a 2-1 loss at the Houston Field House. Savory will clearly make it tough on Quinnipiac as outside of one game in which he allowed four goals against Massachusetts he has only allowed two goals in each of his other five starts. He will definitely play a factor in this game. 

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Monday, November 11, 2019

Thoughts and observations from the weekend slate against Dartmouth & Harvard

Senior Alex Whelan returned to the lineup this past weekend but Quinnipiac still struggled on the ice
 Quinnipiac went 0-1-1 on the opening weekend of ECAC play and it wasn't pretty at times. Due to a prior engagement I could only watch Friday's game against Dartmouth and not the game against Harvard. We are nine games into the 2019-2020 season which is still a small sample size but I am not sure if this will be a tournament team. They will likely be better in the second half than the first half so it remains to be seen if they can make a run in the later half of the season. Here are my thoughts from the weekend slate of games.

- It was a solid effort on Friday for the Bobcats though they blew a lead in the third period and had to settle for a tie after overtime. Quinnipiac was good in the first two periods but struggled giving up 11 shots in the third period including the tying goal by Tyler Campbell which was scored on a scrum in front of Petruzzelli. Getting a point was a good start in league play even though it probably should have been two.

- It was good to see Alex Whelan back from his injury after missing five straight games with an upper body injury. Whelan's presence should be a big boost in the coming weeks for Quinnipiac as he gets his games legs back and gets his timing back. They need Whelan to help stabilize the special teams and put the puck into the net with his 200 foot game. 

- Odeen Tufto and William Fallstrom were dominant on face-offs against Dartmouth with Tufto winning 10 of 14 and Fallstrom 13 of 16. They need that to continue to order to establish puck possession along with getting quick breakouts out of the defensive zone. The two weren't nearly as good against Harvard and the team only won two more face-offs against the Crimson only Saturday.

- Give Quinnipiac's defense some credit on Friday night as they shut down Dartmouth's top guys of Quin Foreman and Drew O'Connor. The Bobcats caught a break when Will Graber wasn't active for the game but Quinnipiac did a nice job limiting Foreman and O'Connor to just two shots combined.

- The same can't be said Saturday about the Quinnipiac defense and goal-tending which was pretty bad. Giving up seven goals on 23 shots is beyond bad and just shows that the defense has a long way to go to be effective consistently. They didn't get much help either from goaltender Keith Petruzzelli who gave up three goals on seven shots before being pulled for the second time in four games in favor of freshman Evan Fear. How much longer can Quinnipiac continue to start a goalie with a sub .900 save percentage? I know Evan Fear's save percentage is .793 but each time he came into the game, it was in a tough spot. I really think they need to give Fear a start here in the next few weeks to see if he can give a spark because their has just been too many inconsistencies with Keith Petruzzelli.

- Captain Nick Jermain is second on the team with four goals and is just one goal off from tying his career high in a season. The senior looks like he may have a strong year after battling some injuries two of his first three seasons in Hamden.

- I can't believe we are nine games into the season and Odeen Tufto hasn't scored a goal yet. He leads the team in points with 11 assists and has points in his last six games but is really snake bitten right now when it comes to putting the puck into the net. 

- Harvard is for real and I still shocked they weren't picked higher than where they were. They have probably the best collection of talent in the ECAC with some high end forwards sprinkled with good depth offensively along with a top four on defense that is one of the best in the league. The Crimson's only weakness is probably in goal and that might not be an issue for long as freshman goaltender Mitchell Gibson might take this job and run with it.

- It still amazes me that Quinnipiac was picked second in the league. When I submitted my ballot there was no way I was putting them that high and I ended up picking them fourth. That might have been very generous on my part. They might struggle to even reach that. They had some pretty big losses that are really tough to cover up for when you aren't bringing in talent that is comparable to what you are losing especially on the blue line. You aren't going to win a lot of games when you have a negative five goal difference. I know that the Harvard game skewed those numbers but its still not something you want to see from Quinnipiac.

- Next weekend is big for Quinnipiac. They welcome a bad Union team and a rising RPI team to Hamden and they can ill afford to fall behind the eight ball in the ECAC standings. Union has given the Bobcats some struggles the past few years and this is the time Quinnipiac needs to return the favor when Union is in the midst of a poor season. RPI is a team on the rise as they are 4-4 (2-2 ECAC). They boost a solid goaltender in sophomore Owen Savory who played really well as a freshman and was a difference maker for the Engineers. Expect another tough ECAC weekend for Quinnipiac.


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Friday, November 8, 2019

Weekend Preview: Dartmouth/Harvard


Zach Metsa and the Quinnipiac defense have a tall task this weekend in ECAC play


Dartmouth Head Coach: Bob Gaudet (23rd Season)

2019-2020 Dartmouth record: 0-2-0 (0-1-0 ECAC)

All-time vs. Dartmouth: Quinnipiac leads 20-10-2

Dartmouth Key Players: Will Graber (F), Drew O'Connor (F), Quin Foreman (F), Matt Baker (F), Jeffrey Lossurdo (F), Brendan Demler (D), Joey Matthews (D), Adrian Clark (G)

Dartmouth is a team that reached the ECAC quarterfinals despite finishing under .500 for the season. After dropping hard fought last year in a sweep to Harvard, the stakes are raised for the Big Green as they return one of the best lines in the league and one of the heaviest in Will Graber, Quin Foreman and Drew O'Connor. The Big Green should be able to get a home ice series in the ECAC playoffs but are now shooting for a top four spot. Head coach Bob Gaudet has been there since 1997 but has yet to get Dartmouth to the NCAA tournament a place they haven't been since 1980. They have some talent but they are going to need some breaks along the way if they will end that drought. Coming off back to back to losses to Harvard and the University of New Hampshire, the Big Green are hungry for a win.

There is no question that the Big Green can score goals. They put up seven goals in two games even though they dropped both to Harvard and UNH. They have one of the best lines in the league that will present fore-checking problems for Quinnipiac who really struggled last weekend against Arizona State in that area. The Bobcats biggest concern will have to be Graber, O'Connor and Foreman. This line hurt Quinnipiac when they played up in Hanover again and with the Bobcats struggles on the blue line factored in with inconsistent goal-tending this season, could be a cause for concern for Quinnipiac. How can Quinnipiac stop this offense? It starts by having puck possession and an aggressive fore-check. That could help mitigate Dartmouth's top scoring line. Quinnipiac would also be wise to stay disciplined and out of the penalty box as the Big Green have a strong power play so far converting on 25% of their chances.

So far the Dartmouth defense has shown they have issues giving up 12 goals in two games played. Part of the reason is they just don't have a ton of talent back there. They graduated their best defensemen in Connor Yau who was very solid for them last year. This is truly an area where Quinnipiac needs to exploit and they have the forwards that can do it. The Dartmouth penalty kill has struggled this at 70% but Quinnipiac has been awful on the power play and might not be able to exploit that as they had trouble against Arizona State who was not very good going into last weekend as well.

Dartmouth will likely need Adrian Clark to play at a high level to cover up for a less talented defense but he's a good enough goaltender where he can be a difference for the Big Green in this game. While his first game was a struggle against a good Harvard team, he was really solid a season ago with a 2.31 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. Clark was very strong in the win last year over Quinnipiac in Hanover but struggled in the rematch in Hamden later in the season.

Harvard Head Coach: Ted Donato (16th Season)

2019-2020 Harvard record: 1-0-0 (1-0-0 ECAC)

All-time vs. Harvard: Crimson leads series 15-14-5

Harvard Key Players: Casey Dornbach (F), Jack Badini (F), Jack Drury (F), John Farinacci (F), Nick Abruzzese (F), Reilly Walsh (D), Jack Rathbone (D), Henry Thrun (D), Cameron Gornet (G)

No team in the ECAC has more talent than the Crimson in my opinion and that is still with the early departures of Adam Fox and John Marino on the blue line. Whether that translates on the ice leading to a Cleary Cup or Whitelaw Cup is another story. Harvard brought in a seven player freshman class with five of them being NHL draft picks. It may take some time for some of the younger players to gel but when they do watch out. Harvard could be a sleeper team for the Cleary or Whitelaw Cup titles but lack of experience and goal-tending could keep them from either of those titles.

The Harvard offense is explosive and will cause teams lots of problem if they can't play strong defense. The Crimson have a lot of skill up front with Jack Badini, Nick Abruzzese, John Farinacci, Jack Drury and Casey Dornbach. They have strong depth in players Colton Kerfoot, Henry Bowlby and Nathan Krusko who have the ability to score. The Crimson are deep enough where 7th round draft pick Austin Wong didn't even play in the opener against Dartmouth. What's impressive about Harvard is they blasted the Big Green with seven goals yet none of them came by way of the power play. While they don't have Adam Fox putting up points anymore they have more than enough offense to be an upper echelon team in scoring not just in the ECAC but nationally as well.

Out are Adam Fox and John Marino, in come Henry Thrun and Ryan Siedem. Filling the shoes of Adam Fox is not going to happen. He was that special of a player. But the Crimson should still have one of the better top four's in the ECAC. Led by Reilly Walsh and Jack Rathbone, both of these are strong puck movers in their own end that they will be able to help Thrun and Siedem settle in by mid-season. Quinnipiac's best chance at a mismatch with the Harvard defense is the Crimson's bottom pairing of Marshall Rifai and Benjamin Foley both who have very little game experience.

Goaltender Cameron Gornet did a very solid job filling in for the injured Michael Lackey last season and got the start for the Crimson against Dartmouth. Gornet made 44 saves in the 7-3 victory against the Big Green. Last season Quinnipiac saw Gornet early and he struggled against the Bobcats in a 5-3 loss at Harvard. He didn't play in the second meeting as Michael Lackey beat the Bobcats in Hamden. While he may not start against Quinnipiac, freshman goaltender Mitchell Gibson is a Washington Capitals 4th round pick and is likely to push Gornet this season for the job.


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Sunday, November 3, 2019

Thoughts and observations from Arizona State's weekend sweep of Quinnipiac

Rand Pecknold and his Quinnipiac Bobcats struggled this past weekend in the valley of the sun.

Quinnipiac made it longest road trip of the season to the valley of sun this past weekend but they didn't make it count. The Bobcats were swept by the Sun Devils by scores of 5-3 and 4-1 to fall to 4-3 on the season with ECAC play starting next weekend. There was a lot of ugly play over the weekend that needs to be corrected within the next few weeks. Here are my thoughts and observations from this past weekend against Arizona State.

- There was clearly revenge on the mind of the Sun Devils and you could see it in their play. For them it was not just another game and they had a statement weekend. They punched Quinnipiac in the mouth and the Bobcats couldn't get off the mat. Oceanside Ice Arena is a huge home ice advantage for Arizona State due to how small it is and how fans are on top of the action. Maybe Quinnipiac just wasn't used to playing in such a small venue and that could have affected the way they played.

- You hope that this weekend will be a wake up call for Quinnipiac as they need to bring a sixty minute effort each and every night. The slow starts really need to stop as its really tough for Quinnipiac to play from behind as they don't really have a ton of snipers up front that can take over a game and score goals when the team is trailing. Its just not the way the team is built.

- I think there needs to be a level of concern with goaltender Keith Petruzzelli. While the defense in front of him hasn't been great, he gave up seven goals in 100 minutes of action and was pulled on Friday night after the end of the second period. Saturday night he gave up two soft goals that really changed the tone of the game as Quinnipiac was still in it at the time. He has been way too inconsistent this year season and has a sub .900 save percentage on the season. With a young an inconsistent defense they need the goaltender to pick the team up and he just hasn't done that this year. While he was stellar last weekend against Vermont, he was anything but this past weekend. I am really wondering when we might see freshman Evan Fear get a start because the inconsistent play in goal could really affect the Bobcats season.

- Its clear that Quinnipiac misses senior assistant captain Alex Whelan. He sets a tone up front with his hard nose play and his ability to fore-check and provide scoring chances. Him being out of the lineup has definitely been noticed especially on special teams as well. I don't think he will be ready for the ECAC opener next weekend but you have to hope he will be ready the following week because they really need him in this lineup.

- The power play which was so good last year in now a major problem. They went 1 for 11 on the weekend against the Sun Devils but that one power play goal was late in the game on Friday night when Quinnipiac had an extra attacker on as well. Saturday they were just plain bad. Three of the six chances ended with Quinnipiac taking two foolish penalties with the other ending with a shorthanded goal for Arizona State. Special teams has always been a staple of successful Quinnipiac teams so if they can't get it going this team might struggle at times this season.

- One thing that is stunning is that while Odeen Tufto is the teams leading point man, I didn't think he would be held scoreless seven games into the season. Tufto has nine assists on the team in seven games and took a large step to being a better scorer last season after only nine goals his freshman season. Tufto has a point in every game this season except one but Quinnipiac really needs one of its best players to put the puck in the back of the net.

- Despite winning the face-off battle both nights, I thought Quinnipiac had a tough time with possession in the Arizona State zone and possession throughout the ice. Arizona State did a really good job with its fore-check against Quinnipiac which caused turnovers leading to goals. Arizona State played a heavy game and its something that Quinnipiac will need to learn from as the Sun Devils will not be the only team that the Bobcats will play that brings a heavy game.

- You have to think this will be a rough week of practice for the Quinnipiac players especially with ECAC play opening up and how they played this weekend out at Arizona State. They have a ton of things that need correcting and they need to get the power play in sync. This weekend they will face a Dartmouth that returns a lot of talent followed by a Harvard team with nine NHL draft picks on its roster with one of the best defenses in the ECAC. Quinnipiac will need to bring a sixty minute effort again both of these teams who are expected to be in the upper half of the ECAC this season.

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Friday, November 1, 2019

Weekend Preview: Arizona State Sun Devils

Ethan de Jong and the Bobcats head west for the weekend against Arizona State
Arizona State Head Coach: Greg Powers (5th season)

2019-2020 Arizona State record: 3-3

All-time vs. Arizona State: Quinnipiac leads series 4-1-1

Arizona State Key Players: Johnny Walker (F), James Sanchez (F), Demetrios Koumontzis (F), Tyler Busch (F), Brinson Pasichnuk (D), Joshua Maniscalco (D), Jacob Wilson (D), Evan Debrouwer (G)

Arizona State is coming off the best season in the programs short history. A 21 win season culminated into an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament for the first time ever. However the stay was a short one as they were beaten by the Quinnipiac team they will face this weekend in Tempe, Arizona. Both teams are different than when they met in April with many key players having departed but expect this to be a good tough match-up like it was back in April.

The Sun Devils have an elite forward in Johnny Walker who already has 10 points in six games. He was a force for Arizona State a year ago with 23 goals and has already picked up right where he left off. Quinnipiac will need to account for him every second he is on the ice. The Bobcats did a really good job of limiting Walker to just one shot in last years NCAA tournament game. Junior transfer James Sanchez is off to a nice start with 8 points having last played for Michigan in the 2017-2018 season in which he had a total of 8 points in 27 games. He is expected to be a big part of their offense. Demetrios Koumontzis is the lone draft pick on the Sun Devils roster who had 20 points a year ago as a freshman. The 2018 4th round pick of the Calgary Flames is expected to carry a bigger load this season. Co-captain Tyler Busch also brings some consistent offense for the Sun Devils as he had 21 points a season ago. The Arizona State power play is middle of the pack at 17.2% but with key players such as Walker on it, staying out of the box is a necessity for Quinnipiac.

Arizona State features two of the better defensemen in the country. Senior Brinson Pasichnuk was a force last year with 30 points and is already off to a hot start with six points this year. Pasichnuk who should be a highly sought after NHL free agent after the season had the lone goal for the Sun Devils in last years NCAA tournament game. Joining him on the blue line is sophomore Joshua Maniscalco who had 20 points as a freshman a year ago and already has six this year including two power play goals. If there is an area the Sun Devils struggle when it comes to defense its on the penalty kill where they have killed only 72.7% of all power plays. This is an area that Quinnipiac needs to exploit in this match-up.

Gone is goaltender Joey Daccord who signed with the Ottawa Senators after his junior season. Daccord was a big factor in the Sun Devils success last season so its expected his presence will be missed. Sophomore Evan Debrouwer has five starts for the Sun Devils and is 2-3 with a 2.74 goals against and a .908 save percentage. Boston University transfer Max Prawdzik has the other start for Arizona State while former Qunnipiac commit Justin Robbins has seen action in relief duty. Debrouwer has played in the last four games and while he struggled against one of the top teams in Minnesota State he was very good on the road against Air Force with a shutout and two goals allowed the following night as the Sun Devils swept on the road in Colorado Springs.

These will be important games for Quinnipiac for pairwise implications as I believe a sweep is necessary as I don't believe that Arizona State will have anywhere close to the season they had a year ago making these games that much more important to win. This is the final early season non-conference games before ECAC play opens up next weekend.


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Monday, October 28, 2019

Thoughts and observations from Quinnipiac's 4-0 win over Vermont

Captain Nick Jermain got the Bobcats on the board first with a back handed goal

It was a lone game for Quinnipiac this weekend with a Sunday afternoon game against Hockey East foe Vermont. A strong sixty minute effort led to a 4-0 shutout win for the Bobcats as they moved to 4-1 on the young season as they now head west next weekend to face Arizona State for a pair of games. Here are my thoughts and observations from the win over Vermont.

- Just five games into this young season I thought Quinnipiac had its best effort so far. They started fast with two first period goals and never looked back as they scored two more goals, one coming in the second and third periods respectively. This is the type of effort the Bobcats need to bring on a night in and night out basis if they want to go deep into March and possibly April this season.

- This was a big start for Keith Petruzzelli and he delivered. Coming into this game the junior goaltender had a sub .900 save percentage (.890) and his goals against average was over 2.50. Those numbers couldn't keep up if the Bobcats have NCAA tournament hopes this season. Granted this was an offensively challenged Vermont team but Petruzzelli was strong with 21 saves and making sure the Catamounts did not find the back of the net. More of these games are going to be needed for Petruzzelli to silence the doubters out there and to fend off freshman Evan Fear as well.

- Four different Bobcats scored and three had multi point games. Captain Nick Jermain had a pretty back-handed goal to get the scoring started while Ethan de Jong, Wyatt Bongiovanni and Joe O'Connor had the other goals to balance the attack. Bongiovanni and de Jong each had an assist to go along with their goals while freshman Skyler Brind'Amour had his first career multi point game with two assists. Odeen Tufto had another assist (7) but has yet to find the back of the net five games into the season. That has to change and hopefully soon.

- Great job by the Quinnipiac penalty kill which had struggled in the early going this season. They went three for three killing Vermont power plays and had a big five on three early in the third period that they killed off which prevented any Vermont comeback.

- The same can't be said about the Bobcats power play which was 0 for 5 on the night including a five on three they had in the third period. There is just too much cycling the puck and not enough good looks on net. It seems the passes aren't crisp either. They just need to shoot the puck and try to get some luck because the extra passing has not seemed to help. This is definitely an area of concern right now at this point in the season because they are going to see better teams especially defensively.

- I liked the fact that Rand Pecknold went with the 13 forwards yesterday. I usually like the extra defensemen but Vermont is much better on the back end than they are up front and having an extra forward helped create more chances and different looks. The six defensemen Quinnipiac had back there were really strong clearing pucks and traffic. It definitely looks like they may start to gel on the defensive end as the talent is there to do so.

- I wasn't that impressed with Vermont and they really have limited talented at best. Stefanos Lekkas will steal them some games but he can't do it alone. That is offensively challenged team and will struggle to score goals this season. I have a feeling it will be another long winter for the folks in Burlington and could end with a coaching change at the end of the season.

- Next week is a big challenge for Quinnipiac as these are important non-conference games against Arizona State. The Sun Devils are clearly not as good as last season especially with the loss of goaltender Joey Daccord who turned pro. But these games will be at tiny Oceanside Arena which is always a tough place to play for opposing teams due to its low ceilings. However to me these games are must wins for Quinnipiac and when I say that I say they need to sweep the Sun Devils as I'd expect a regression from them this season.

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Friday, October 25, 2019

Weekend Preview: Vermont Catamounts

Wyatt Bongiovanni leads Quinnipiac with 3 goals this season

Vermont Head Coach: Kevin Sneddon (17th season)

2019-2020 Vermont record: 1-1

All-time vs. Vermont: Quinnipiac leads series 3-1

University of Vermont Key Players: Max Kaufman (F), Alex Esposito (F), Joey Cipollone (F), Vlad Dzhioshvili (F), Derek Lodermeier (F), Jacques Bouquot (F), Andrew Lucas (D), Matt O'Donnell (D), Christian Evers (D), Stefanos Lekkas (G)

The Catamounts are coming off a road trip split up in North Country in which they fell 3-2 to Clarkson last Friday before rebounding the next night with 2-0 win over St. Lawrence. Prior to coming to Hamden on Sunday, Vermont will host Maine in its home opener. Kevin Sneddon is back for his 17th season in Burlington but six of his last nine seasons have resulted in seasons with 19 losses or more. He is definitely a coach that will be on the hot seat this season in the NCAA.

If there is a weakness for the Catamounts, it probably their offense which they did not get much from a year ago. Four of their top five scorers return from a season ago but the top scorer in Max Kaufman led Vermont with just 21 points. He was the only player to reach the 20 point plateau for the Catamounts a year ago. They are going to need players outside of Kaufman to step up including Joey Cipollone, Derek Lodermeier, Alex Esposito and Vlad Dzhioshvili. Vermont's season really will be based on how well the offense improves from a year ago. Through two games Vermont has yet to score on the power play.

The Vermont defense despite not having a ton of big names is a veteran group that played very well on opening weekend with a shutout against St. Lawrence and going down to the end with Clarkson on the road. They have handful of upperclassmen led by captain Matt O'Donnell. The Bobcats were limited offensively a year ago up at Vermont and its likely this game will be very similar too. The Catamount penalty kill is a very respectable 85.7% just two games into their season.

Senior goaltender Stefanos Lekkas is a four year starter for the Catamounts and is the backbone of this Vermont team. He has been a workhorse for Vermont starting 104 games in his three plus years so far. While he doesn't bring elite size in goal he moves well and sees a lot of pucks. He sees a ton of shots so he usually has a pretty solid save percentage even if he doesn't have an elite goals against average. Lekkas is a player who can steal a game so Quinnipiac will need to pound the senior with shot after shot.

This will be Quinnipiac's fourth consecutive season that they have faced Vermont after only facing the Catamounts once prior to that. It will be interesting to see what type of changes Quinnipiac has in store or if you will see freshman Evan Fear possibly get a start this weekend before this team travels west to face Arizona State in a rematch of last years NCAA tournament.


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