Quinnipiac cruises to opening game playoff win

The Quinnipiac Bobcats men's hockey team opened the ECAC playoffs in resounding fashion with a 6-1 win over the Brown Bears on Friday night before a crowd of 2,857 at the High Point Solutions Arena. Six different Bobcats scored on the night with 12 different players recording at least one point. With the win, the Bobcats have won 20 games for the sixth consecutive season. This breaks the school record of five consecutive 20 win seasons set back in the 1998-99 through 2002-03 seasons when Quinnipiac was in MAAC Hockey. This is also the 16th 20-win season under head coach Rand Pecknold.

Landon Smith (photo by Kim Klement/USA Today)

The Bobcats got off to a fast start when just 32 seconds into the game freshman Alex Whelan put home a rebound off of Craig Martin's initial shot on Gavin Nieto. It was the 4th goal of the season for Whelan and he has now scored goals in back to back games. Martin and Derek Smith picked up the assists with the latter returning to the lineup after missing senior night with an injury. Nine minutes later Landon Smith sniped home his 10th goal of the season from the bottom left circle with Tanner MacMaster and Luke Shiplo picking up the assists. Quinnipiac dominated the possession in the first period along with out shooting Brown 17-4 in the opening frame.

The teams opened the second period scoreless for half the period. A little over 12 minutes into the period Quinnipiac struck again on a two on one chance lead by Alex Whelan with Tim Clifton finishing the puck past a sliding Nieto. Craig Martin picked up his second assist of the game on the goal which was Clifton's team leading 13th goal of the season. Quinnipiac pounded another 17 shots on goal on Nieto in the middle frame. 

Alex Whelan (photo by Jenn Hoffman/Pucs & Rec)

The rout was on in the third period as the flood gates started to open with a power play goal by Thomas Aldworth who dangled the puck past the Brown defender for the goal.  K.J. Tiefenwerth and Tanner MacMaster picked up the assists. Three and half minutes later Connor Clifton took a pass cross ice from Landon Smith and put it past Nieto for the goal. Eight minutes later, Tiefenwerth slipped a shot from a tough angle past Nieto for a 6-0 Bobcat lead. Nieto was pulled and replaced with Connor Maher. Brown got a late goal with under six minutes left when Brown's top line put them on the board. Max Willman scored his 11th goal from Charlie Corcoran and Sam Lafferty spoiling freshman Andrew Shortridge's shutout bid.

Quinnipiac out shot Brown 46-20 and was strong on the penalty kill going six out of six. Brown showed very little on offense but did show some physical play late in the game. Andrew Shortridge made 19 saves picking up his first career playoff win and became only the fourth Bobcat freshman to start a playoff game behind Justin Eddy, Jamie Holden and Bud Fisher. The Bobcats return to action tomorrow night when they look to close out the series against Brown and book a quarterfinal trip to North Country to face Saint Lawrence.

Jonathan Singer is a 2004 Quinnipiac alum. You can follow him on Twitter @QHockeyBlog.

Playoff Preview: Quinnipiac Bobcats vs. Brown Bears

High Point Solutions Arena, site of ECAC First Round series vs. Brown

The Quinnipiac Bobcats open up the ECAC playoffs with a familiar foe in the Brown Bears a team that they beat the prior weekend to close out the regular season. Quinnipiac also won the first match up in Providence in early February 1-0. They are also the team that Quinnipiac has played more than any other team except Cornell in the ECAC playoffs since coming into the league back in 2006. The teams last met in the playoffs in the 2013 ECAC semifinals which the Bears won. That 2012-13 season has been Brown's best season in the last dozen years. Since then Brendan Whittet's team has gone into a free fall. Since winning 16 games back in in the '12-13 season, Brown has won 11, 8, 5 and 4 games in the last four seasons. This years team has the worst winning percentage for a Brown team since the 1988-89 season when current Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet was in his first season with Brown and led them to a 1-25 record. Brown has never won the ECAC Championship having lost four times back in 2013, 1993, 1976 and 1965. The Bears last reached the NCAA tournament in 1993.

Tale of the Tape:

#5 Quinnipiac Bobcats 19-13-2 (13-8-1 ECAC)
3.03 Goals scored per game (Tied 25th nationally with Cornell)
2.62 Goals allowed per game (22nd nationally)
18.01% Power Play (31st nationally)
85.2% Penalty Kill (Tied 14th nationally with UMass Lowell)
Cleary Cup Championships: 2016, 2015, 2013
Whitelaw Cup Championships: 2016
NCAA Tournament Appearances (5) 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2002
NCAA Frozen Four Appearances (2) 2016, 2013

#12 Brown Bears 4-23-2 (3-18-1 ECAC)
2.21 Goals scored per game (53rd nationally)
4.17 Goals allowed per game (59th nationally)
8.33% Power Play (59th nationally)
72.7% Penalty Kill (60th natioanlly)
Cleary Cup Championships: None
Whitelaw Cup Championships: None
NCAA Tournament Appearances (4) 1993, 1976, 1965, 1951
NCAA Frozen Four Appearances (3) 1976, 1965, 1951

Key Players:

Brown: F Sam Lafferty (33 points), F Charlie Corcoran (27 points), F Max Willman (25 points), F Brent Beaudoin (12 points), F Tyler Bird (12 points)

Quinnipiac: D Chase Priskie (25 points), F Landon Smith (25 points), D Brogan Rafferty (23 points), F Tim Clifton (22 points), F Craig Martin (22 points), F Bo Pieper (20 points), D Kārlis Čukste (15 points), D Connor Clifton (11 points), G Andrew Shortridge 9-5, 2.16 GAA

Playoff History:

2013 ECAC Semifinals - Brown defeats Quinnipiac 4-0
2012 ECAC First Round - Quinnipiac wins series 2-1 (1-4, 3-0, 4-2)
2011 ECAC First Round - Quinnipiac wins series 2-0 (4-0, 4-0)
2008 ECAC First Round - Quinnipiac wins series 2-0 (7-6 OT, 7-1)

The Skinny:

Quinnipiac comes into this game having won five out of their last seven ECAC games albeit they came against teams much worse than them in the standings. Brown is 1-12-1 in their last fourteen ECAC contests since their last non conference game. Their lone win against a winning team this season came against Army of the Atlantic Hockey Conference back in early December. Quinnipiac has the better team on offense, defense, special teams and with goaltending along with having a massive coaching edge in this match-up. Brown has some nice offensive players notably Lafferty, Corcoran and Willman but they lack offensive depth and the teams defense just hasn't been good this year which has put too much pressure on freshman goaltender Gavin Nieto. Bruno's special teams are really poor which won't help with the Bobcats having one a top 15 penalty kill and a power play that at times has the ability put the puck in the net multiple times a game. I think Brown is going to have a tough time scoring in this series if they can't find offense outside of the likes of Lafferty, Corcoran and Willman who have contributed to 49% of Browns scoring this year. The task of Quinnipiac's defense should be able to focus on Brown's better offensive players in order to shut them down and keep them off the score-sheet forcing lessor players to produce for them which I don't think they will be able to do. Quinnipiac's Andrew Shortridge is also starting to find a groove in goal and should give the Bobcats quality play in the crease this weekend.

The Prediction:

Quinnipiac has the home ice, the better overall team and coaching staff along with a history of beating Brown in the postseason.

Qunnipiac in a sweep

Jonathan Singer is a 2004 Quinnipiac alum. You can follow him on Twitter @QHockeyBlog.

Andrew Shortridge named ECAC Rookie of the Week

Andrew Shortridge (photo by Hans Pennik/Times Union)

After a pair of weekend wins over Yale and Brown, freshman goaltender Andrew Shortridge was named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week as was announced by the league in a press release. Its the first career ECAC award for Shortridge, a native of Anchorage, Alaska who has given the Bobcats stability in goal in the second half of the season.

This past weekend Shortridge combined for 37 saves in two wins with a 1.50 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. After starting the season 2-2 he is 7-3 in his last ten starts in goal for Quinnipiac. On the season Shortridge is 9-5 with a 2.16 goals against average and a .915 save percentage with one shutout which came against the Brown Bears in a 1-0 win back on February 3rd.

The Bobcats are back in action as they take on the Brown Bears in a best of three first round series in the ECAC playoffs beginning Friday at the High Point Solutions Arena.

Jonathan Singer is a 2004 Quinnipiac alum. You can follow him on Twitter @QHockeyBlog.

Quinnipiac recruiting notes 2/27/17

The Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey team finished the regular season with a record of 19-13-2 having earned the number five seed in the upcoming ECAC playoffs where they will face the Brown Bears in the opening round of the playoffs. Its the first time since the 2011-2012 season that Quinnipiac will open the playoffs in the first round having had a bye the last four seasons. With that said let's take a look at what some of the future Bobcats did as many of them are heading towards the playoffs or their season has ended.

Keith Petruzzelli (photo by Muskegon Lumberjacks)

There is no way we can start this notes column and not talk first about 1999 goaltender Keith Petruzzelli of the Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL). The top rated North American goaltender in the Central Scouting Rankings who scored an empty goal on Friday night against the Madison Capitols from his own crease. You can check the video out here. Its an impressive play by Petruzzelli which requires a split second decision making to get this shot off instead of covering it up for the face-off which many other goaltenders possibly would have done. He shows tremendous ability to quickly control the puck put it on the ice in front of him and have quick stick work in order to flip it down the ice for the goal. On the season, Petruzzelli is 16-9 with a 2.61 goals against average and a .906 save percentage with two shutouts. His 16 wins are the most for a rookie goaltender in the USHL this season. The gem of the 2017 Quinnipiac recruiting class, its possible that he could get drafted in the first two rounds of the draft depending on which franchises are looking for a goaltender of the future.

Another one of the Bobcats incoming commits for 2017 continues to remain hot. 1996 forward Matt Forchuk of the Canmore Eagles (AJHL) is on an 11 game point streak (8 goals and 16 assists). In two games this past weekend he had two goals and four assists. He continues to remain the leading scorer in the AJHL with 93 points (29 goals and 64 assists) in 54 games. Canmore has two regular season games remaining so he would need a huge two games to reach 100 points for the season. He has missed four games this season which could have helped his point totals even more. The 93 points and counting are the most for an incoming recruit since Travis St. Denis had 88 points for the Penticton Vees (BCHL) in his final season of junior hockey. 

Matt Forchuk (photo by Pam Doyle)

1997 forward Odeen Tufto had two more assists this weekend for the Sioux City Musketeers (USHL). He is tied for 14th in scoring in the USHL with 33 points (9 goals and 24 assists). His 24 assists are tied for 7th in that category. A native of Chaska, Minnesota, Tufto has 12 points (4 goals and 8 assists) in his last 16 games between Sioux City and the Tri-City Storm. Tufto should become a solid play-maker for Quinnipiac along with the ability to score goals. He had 25 goals in his only season with the Vernon Vipers (BCHL) in the 2015-2016 campaign. He is part of the 2017 recruiting class.

1998 forward Michael Lombardi of Kimball Union Academy was named to the New England Prep School Ice Hockey Association First Team All-East. In 36 games played he has 47 points (19 goals and 28 assists). He is averaging 1.31 points per game this season. Kimball Union opens the Stuart/Corkery Elite 8 Tournament Quarterfinals on March 1st at the number three seed where they will take on the sixth seed Thayer Academy.

Two other prep players committed to Quinnipiac will play in the playoffs. 2000 defenseman Peter Diliberatore is playing for the seventh seeded Salisbury School in their match-up against second seed Dexter. Diliberatore finished his first season with Salisbury with 17 points (5 goals and 12 assists) in 29 games played. Its possible that Dilberatore and Lombardi could go head to head against each others team in the playoffs. 1999 forward Matthew Fawcett is playing for the number three seed Winchendon School in the Piatelli/Simmons Small School Tournament Quarterfinals against sixth seed Pomfret. Fawcett has had a big season for Winchendon scoring 51 points (23 goals and 28 assists) in 26 games played. He is on the affiliate list for the Sioux City Musketeers where he played two games for them this season.

Both 1997 forward Matthew Creamer of the Nanaimo Clippers and 1998 defenseman Zach Metsa of the  Merritt Centennials are both playing in the BCHL playoffs for their respective teams. Creamer, a native of Warwick, Rhode Island finished season as Nanaimo's second leading scorer with 36 points (19 goals and 17 assists) in 56 games played. Metsa in 57 games played has 27 points (3 goals 24 assists). He is tied for the team lead with 12 power play assists.

2001 forward Connor Tait helped lead the Gonzaga College High School to the MAPHL "AA" Division championship. Tait led the team in scoring in the playoffs with 8 points (5 goals and 3 assists). In 32 games played including playoffs for Gonzaga, Tait had 61 points (39 goals and 22 assists). He plays on a line with Providence College commit Cole Vallese. In January, Tait was a NCDC futures pick by the New Jersey Hitmen.

Jonathan Singer is a 2004 Quinnipiac alum. You can follow him on Twitter @QHockeyBlog.

Quinnipiac ends regular season on high note in 4-1 win over Brown

The Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey team ended its regular season on a high note Saturday with a 4-1 win over the Brown Bears on senior night. It is the first three game winning streak for the Bobcats since winning four in a row in mid-November. Quinnipiac has won five out of its last seven games to finish the regular season 19-13-2 and the 5th seed in the ECAC playoffs where they will face these same Brown Bears for a first round series next week in Hamden. Prior to the game, six seniors were honored for their contributions to the men's ice hockey program over the last four seasons which included Connor and Tim Clifton, Derek Smith, Tommy Schutt, K.J. Tiefenwerth and Joe Fiala. This senior class still has a very solid chance at finishing with over 100 wins for their career as they currently sit at 98.

Nick Jermain (photo by Catherine Avalone/New Haven Register)

The two teams were scoreless for the majority of the first period before freshman Nick Jermain scored a highlight reel goal on Gavin Nieto giving the Bobcats the lead. Jermain made impressive moves around both the Brown defender and Nieto for his first goal at home this year. Kārlis Čukste and Kevin Duane picked up the assists on the goal. Not even a minute later, New Canaan, Connecticut product Charlie Corcoran scored his 15th goal of the season to even the score going into the first intermission.

Just fifty five seconds into the second period Tanner MacMaster potted his seventh goal of the season on assists from Bo Pieper and Landon. Quinnipiac picked up two more goals both from underclassmen when just a minute after the MacMaster goal it was Thomas Aldworth getting his seventh of the season from Jermain and Duane. Freshman Alex Whelan finished the Quinnipiac scoring for the night with a beauty of a goal high past Nieto. Čukste and Tiefenwerth picked up the assists.

Alex Whelan (photo by Jenn Hoffman/Pucks & Rec)

Quinnipiac out shot Brown 37-19 for the game while freshman goaltender Andrew Shortridge was solid in net again with 19 saves for his ninth win of the season. These two teams will meet again next Friday at 7 p.m. at the High Point Solutions Arena. Game two will be Saturday at 7 p.m. and if necessary, game three will be Sunday at 4 p.m. Quinnipiac has made the ECAC Final Four five times in their history but only one time coming out of the first round of the playoffs back in 2007 when they lost to Clarkson in the championship game.

Jonathan Singer is a 2004 Quinnipiac alum. You can follow him on Twitter @QHockeyBlog.

Quinnipiac edges Yale 3-2, retains Heroes Hat

For the 13th time in 15 years the Quinnipiac Bobcats Men's Ice Hockey team won the Heroes Hat as they defeated their rival Yale 3-2 before an energetic crowd of 3,695 at High Point Solutions Arena. Its the ninth time they have won the Heroes Hat over Yale. The other four times were against UConn. Coming into Friday night's game the Bobcats still had an outside chance at a first round bye with some help. Rand Pecknold's squad did their part but they didn't get the help from Dartmouth as they fell 5-4 in back and forth game against Saint Lawrence giving the Saints the final first round bye.

Andrew Shortridge (photo by Hans Pennik/Times Union)

Pecknold turned to freshman Andrew Shortridge who has played well of late for the Bobcats in goal. Quinnipiac got off to a fast start in this one when Yale's Chris Izmirlian took a foolish goaltender interference penalty just a 1:20 into the game. The Bobcats capitalize not even a minute later when Craig Martin took a Tim Clifton pass who wristed one past a screened Sam Tucker for the goal. It was Martin's ninth tally of the season while Brogan Rafferty picked up a secondary assist his team leading 21st. Three minutes later Quinnipac was right back on the power play due to a Dan O'Keefe hooking call and just a minute into the power play it was Bo Pieper who struck for the Bobcats again on the man advantage when he cleaned up a Thomas Aldworth shot that Tucker could not handle. Connor Clifton also picked up an assist on the goal. The Bobcats killed off two Yale power plays towards the later half of the first period. Landon Smith scored an unassisted goal with thirty seconds left in the period when he went top shelf past Tucker giving the Bobcats a 3-0 lead heading into the locker room. Quinnipiac out shot the Bulldogs 14-6 in the opening frame.

Yale trimmed the lead to two goals just 21 seconds into the second period when John Hayden was all alone in the slot and put it past Shortridge for his 19th goal of the season. Joe Snively and Frankie DiChiara picked up the assists. Both teams traded early power plays to no avail. Yale carried the play throughout the majority of the second period putting many quality chances on Shortridge but the freshman stood tall especially when he came up huge on a Joe Snively breakaway chance to keep the score 3-1 along with another massive save with just under five minutes to play in the period. With a just a minute and a half left, Yale's Evan Smith cut the lead to one on his fourth goal of the season on an assist from Andrew Gaus. The Bulldogs also hit iron with less than ten seconds to play in the period before the horn sounded. Yale only out shot Quinnipiac 9-8 that period but had more higher quality chances on goal.

Craig Martin (photo by Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)

The third period brought a lot of back and forth play between the teams. Five minutes into the period, Shortridge made another big save on a Yale two on one opportunity. Quinnipiac had a golden chance to extend the lead in the third period when they had a 5 on 3 power play that was ended less than a minute later when Kārlis Čukste took a tripping call. The teams played at even strength pretty much the entire rest of the way outside of a Yale too many men on the ice call half way through the period. Shortridge was strong for the Bobcats in the final frame saving all six Yale shots to finish with 19 for the game. The Bobcats also blocked 19 shots and Tim Clifton was dominant in the face-off circle winning 20 of 23.

With the win the Bobcats clinched the 5th seed in the ECAC tournament and will have home ice in the first round of the playoffs. Its the first time since the 2011-2012 season that Quinnipiac will be playing on the opening weekend of the ECAC playoffs. The Bobcats return to the ice for senior night tomorrow when they take on the Brown Bears the team they will face in the first round of the ECAC tournament.

Jonathan Singer is a 2004 Quinnipiac alum. You can follow him on Twitter @QHockeyBlog.

Scouting the enemy: Brown Bears

The Quinnipiac Bobcats conclude the regular season with its senior night game against Brown on Saturday at the High Point Solutions Arena. Prior to the game the school will honor its six graduating seniors. The Bobcats still have a chance to get a first round bye depending on results of Friday's game against Yale and Saint Lawrence's game against Dartmouth. Should Quinnipiac win and Saint Lawrence were to lose it would put massive pressure on the Saints against Harvard on Saturday night in Cambridge. Brown comes into the weekend with a record of 4-21-1 (3-16 ECAC) and has a slim chance at the 11th seed and is more likely to finish at the bottom of the ECAC. They would need to sweep the weekend against Princeton and Quinnipiac while RPI gets swept against Cornell and Colgate. The Bears only have one win in their last 15 games.

Sam Lafferty (photo by Brown Bears Athletics)

The last six games Brown has only averaged 1.83 goals per game. In that stretch they are 0-5-1 with a the tie coming against Princeton. Quinnipiac and Harvard both shut out the Bears in that stretch. For the season they are averaging 2.26 goals per game which is good for 53rd in the country. They have four quality juniors in Sam Lafferty (32 points), Charlie Corcoran (25 points), Max Willman (23 points) and Tyler Bird (11 points). They don't have much depth outside of those four I mentioned putting a lot of pressure on these players to produce on an every game basis in order to carry the Bears. That just hasn't happened and teams have been able to neutralize them at times this year. The power play which was at 10.71% the last time these teams met has gotten worse. They are at the bottom of the country at 8.57% (9-of-105). I just don't see the Bears coming into Hamden and busting out with a great offensive performance especially if the Bobcats are still playing for a first round bye.

Defensively Brown has not improved much if at all. They have seen their goals against slightly drop from 4.19 the last time these teams met to 4.07 which still good for 59th in the country. There has been a lot of defensive rotations that head coach Brendan Whittet has used but he has yet to find the right combination of players back there leading to the teams poor defensive play and putting more pressure on the goaltenders to carry them which hasn't worked either. Quinnipiac's offense needs to play very aggressive along with being physical and take it to the Bears much like they did to RPI a week ago. The Bobcats need to make Brown play from behind so an early goal or two would be huge considering how limited they are offensively. Getting onto the power play would be beneficial for Quinnipiac considering how poor Brown is on the penalty kill at 72.1% (93-of-129) which is last in the country. Players like Chase Priskie and Brogan Rafferty could both be big in this game on the power play.

Charlie Corcoran (photo by Catherine Avalone/New Haven Register)

Freshman Gavin Nieto has gotten the majority of the starts this season but senior Tim Ernst has seen some action down the stretch especially in the last two games against Dartmouth and Harvard. Nieto on the season has a record of 3-16-1 with a 3.85 goals against average and a .881 save percentage. Its possible that Tim Ernst starts this final game if it doesn't mean anything to Brown as a nice reward to a graduating senior. If these teams meet the following week I feel they will turn back to Nieto for the playoff series.

All time Quinnipiac holds a 18-7-6 advantage between the two teams. The Bobcats are looking to sweep the Bears for the second consecutive season. There is also a very good chance these teams meet back in Hamden again next weekend for the ECAC first round of the playoffs should Quinnipiac not a get a first round bye.

Jonathan Singer is a 2004 Quinnipiac alum. You can follow him on Twitter @QHockeyBlog.