Thoughts and Observations from Quinnipiac's midweek sweep of Holy Cross

Desi Burgart leads Quinnipiac with four goals this season

The Quinnipiac Bobcats bounced back from a disappointing weekend against Bowling Green to sweep Holy Cross in a home and home series. The Bobcats won 6-1 on Tuesday in Hamden and followed that up with a 3-0 road win on Wednesday prior to Christmas. Quinnipiac did what they had to do in these games which was essentially not lose them and they did that. Here are my thoughts and observations from the Holy Cross games. 

- Quinnipiac had a pair of good solid efforts against a much weaker opponent. They took care of business with ease on Tuesday with five players having multi point games. The Bobcats were in control from the start and never let Holy Cross even sniff a chance at getting back into the game. When Quinnipiac plays like that they are a dangerous team. Wednesday night was a game Quinnipiac also controlled but the score was much tighter. They got goals in each period while Keith Petruzzelli was on his game once again to pick up his first shutout of the season. 

- Two Bobcats look like they are taking that next step as players. Guus van Nes and Desi Burgart are off to greats starts this season for Quinnipiac. van Nes is tied for third on the team in scoring with a goal and five assists while Burgart leads the team in goals with four.  If those two can continue the hot start it will be big for the depth of this team during the season.

- One player who is struggling offensively right now is Skyler Brind'Amour. The sophomore forward has just one assist this season and is scoreless in his last five games. After a 13 point freshman year, Brind'Amour was expected to take even a further leap this season but right now is struggling to find the scoring sheet. Hopefully its only temporary but its something to watch.

- While I think this is a very talented Quinnipiac team I am not sure we will really know how good they are with the lack of quality non-conference opponents and only three other ECAC teams playing this season. We know Clarkson has in the past been a good team but they have struggled out of the gate with a 4-3 record and losses to RIT, Niagara and Colgate. I really wish other ECAC teams had not bailed on the season especially the Ivy League teams. 

- Freshman Christophe Fillion picked up his first collegiate point against Holy Cross on Tuesday. Fillion is a plus five in just three games played. Not bad from someone who started this season in junior hockey in the USHL and was expected to come in next season. 

- Keith Petruzzelli's stellar play rewarded him with his first shutout of the season in Wednesday's win over Holy Cross. The senior has a 1.56 goals against average and a .939 save percentage in his final season so far. He has gotten better in each of this four seasons in Hamden and is the backbone of this team. His play will dictate how far the Bobcats can go this season.

- I cannot stress how important this upcoming weekend series against American International College will be. This is the Bobcats final two non-conference games and they come against the team that is #3 currently in the pairwise rankings. Granted that is unlikely to continue but the Bobcats really need these two wins to boost their pairwise ranking as they head into the four team ECAC season. AIC is a very good defensive team as they have allowed just five goals this season in five games played all wins. The Yellow Jackets are coming off back to back 20 plus win seasons along with two Atlantic Hockey regular season titles. They are well coached by Eric Lang who is one of the top coaches in the Northeast. Quinnipiac will have their hands full with this team this weekend.

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Thoughts and Observations of Quinnipiac’s lost weekend against Bowling Green

Keith Petruzzelli saved 67 of 72 shots this weekend against Bowling Green

The Quinnipiac Bobcats this past weekend welcomed the Bowling Green Falcons to Hamden for the first match-up ever between these programs. Bowling Green came into the weekend as a team that had already played seven games on the season even those two were against Division III Adrian. The Falcons swept the weekend series against the Bobcats winning 4-1 Friday night and followed that up with a come from behind 4-2 win Saturday. Here are my thoughts and observations from the weekend games.

- Quinnipiac was thoroughly dominated on Friday night and really didn't looked prepared coming into the game. Bowling Green dominated the first two periods out shooting Quinnipiac 28-7 while pounding the Bobcats on the fore-check and possessing the puck better. The Bobcats had very little jump in their step and looked like they didn't know what to expect from this veteran Bowling Green squad. 

- Color me super impressed with Bowling Green. This is a well coached veteran team that came into Hamden and swept Quinnipiac on the weekend. That is usually very hard to do and they did it in convincing fashion one night and in come from behind fashion the next night. They are strong on the puck and have a very good fore-check. The Falcons should be a strong team this season in the WCHA and reach the NCAA tournament again.

- I hate to blame officials but that phantom elbowing call on Quinnipiac's Peter Diliberatore was inexcusable and for Chip McDonald and his crew to make a call like that in a tie game late is just awful. McDonald has been a brutal official for years and this isn't the first time he has screwed Bobcats on calls. This call changed the game as Bowling Green scored to take the lead and followed it up with an empty net goal to seal the win. I do wish a call like that could be challenged in the future. 

- Even with the brutal penalty call on Peter Diliberatore, Quinnipiac just didn't play well in the third period to win the game. They need to play for 60 minutes and they just didn't do that. It really started with that late Bowling Green power play goal in the second period by Gavin Gould. That changed the momentum towards the Falcons which they carried into the third period. 

- I thought Keith Petruzzelli played really well this weekend despite the end results. He made 67 saves on the weekend and surrendered just five goals. His play definitely kept the score lower than it probably could have been. So far this season he has been a rock in between the pipes for the Bobcats.

- Quinnipiac was very undisciplined this weekend as they took 14 penalties. This is uncharacteristic of a Rand Pecknold coached team but the play of Bowling Green had a ton to do with that as they had a strong possession game along with a strong fore-check that created some odd man chances in which Quinnipiac had to take a penalty. The Bobcats need to clean up the undisciplined play fast as they have four more games this week.

- Not getting at least a split this weekend against Bowling Green could come back to hurt the Bobcats later in the season with the pairwise rankings. Outside of the playing Bowling Green, Quinnipiac doesn't play another team that is ranked in the non-conference schedule. The Bobcats will probably have to have real good league success and individual success against Clarkson to make up for their lack of non-conference opponents and the fact that most of the ECAC opted out of the season.

- Its another quick turnaround for Quinnipiac with a mid week home and home series with Holy Cross. The Crusaders are off to a solid 4-2 start this season but have played mostly Atlantic Hockey teams outside of newcomer Long Island University. These are super important games as Quinnipiac cannot afford to lose any more out of conference games with the lack of quality ECAC opponents on the schedule outside of Clarkson. 

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Thoughts & Observations of Quinnipiac's two game sweep over Sacred Heart

Zach Metsa had a five point series as Quinnipiac swept Sacred Heart

For the first time since February 29th, the Quinnipiac Bobcats took to the ice for a live hockey game as they played host to Sacred Heart to kick off its season two months later than normal due to the COVID-19 situation still on going in the world. The 2019-2020 season ended abruptly prior to the ECAC Quarterfinals with the Bobcats finishing with a record of 21-11-2. 

The 2020-2021 season has seen eight of the twelve ECAC teams not take part this season with only Quinnipiac, Clarkson, Colgate and St. Lawrence playing on. The Bobcats will play a 26 game season having already lost two games to cancellation. 

Quinnipiac got off to a good start this year with back to back wins against Sacred Heart, 9-2 and 2-1 in overtime. Here are my thoughts and observations of these last two games. 

 - This might be Quinnipiac's most talented and deepest team since the 2016 National Runner Up team that lost to North Dakota. The Bobcats are deep up front with their top six having lots of skill and scoring ability. Even the Bobcats bottom two lines having scoring ability and toughness. While the defense doesn't feature one senior, it is a talented bunch that can score and defend. Throw in the fact that Keith Petruzzelli looks to have picked up right where he left off last season and this has the makings of a potentially very good Bobcats team. 

- The Bobcats looked great in game one winning 9-2 with nine different players scoring goals. They got off to a slow start in the first period but that has to be expected as they were working out the kinks before exploding in the second and third periods. However, I was more impressed with the win in game two though as they gutted out a 2-1 win in overtime. I thought Sacred Heart played really well in the second game and really took it to Quinnipiac at times especially in the second and third period. The Bobcats remained focused and didn't let going to overtime affect them as Wyatt Bongiovanni ended it 2:19 into the extra frame. Being able to win tight games is something that is needed to see what teams are made of. 

- Zach Metsa broke out as a sophomore last season and it looks like the junior defenseman could be in store for an even greater season. Metsa was strong with a five point series and had the secondary assist on the Bongiovanni game winner in overtime. He is a workhorse on the back end and should be able to help fill the void with the graduation of Karlis Cukste. 

- Skyler Brind'Amour and Odeen Tufto were both strong on the face-off dot against Sacred Heart. Brind'Amour won 24 of 34 face-offs while Tufto won 29 of 46. Having two good players on face-offs are big especially with the loss of William Fallstrom who was very good at it.

- It was only two games but you can tell that the power play for the Bobcats has the ability to be very good this season. They got tons of quality looks and while they only went 3 for 13 in the series you can just tell they have the talent and ability on the man advantage to get results more so this season.

- Ty Smilanic was held scoreless in the Quinnipiac rout but more than made up for it with his nifty goal in the second game. The goal was a thing of beauty with Smilanic featuring soft hands and great hand eye coordination and speed. He is a one of the Bobcats best players and should have a very good season once he gets his feet wet.

- Its always nice to get a player like senior Josh Mayanja some playing time. One of the top locker room and team guys the past four years he got to see some late action in the blowout win against Sacred Heart making three saves in five minutes. Its always nice to rewards players for being strong team players and Mayanja has been one of them in his four years with the program.

- Its nice to see Marcus Chorney chip in with his first two points of his career. After only playing 15 games in two seasons, the junior is expected to play a lot more this season and take on a bigger role to help anchor the Bobcats defense. He showed some nice ability down the stretch last year and it looks like it has carried into this season.

- It stinks that students, alumni and fans can't be in the building this season due to COVID-19 but the team will have full support behind them and hopefully by the 2021-2022 fans will be able to return to the People's United Center along with all sporting events. 

- Quinnipiac will play its toughest non-conference games this weekend when they host Bowling Green who already have seven games under their belt this season. Granted two of them were against Division III Adrian which do not count in the standings but this is a team looks to be in a groove right now. The only defeat for Bowling Green was at the hands of Mercyhurst back on December 5th. 

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Ty Smilanic drafted 74th overall by the Florida Panthers

Ty Smilanic became the highest drafted Quinnipiac player

Quinnipiac freshman forward Ty Smilanic has been selected 74th overall in the third round by the Florida Panthers. The Colorado native becomes the highest drafted NHL draft pick in the programs history surpassing senior goaltender Keith Petruzelli who was selected 88th overall in the 2017 draft. 

He finished the 2019-2020 season with 10 goals and 21 assists in 46 games played for the United States National Developmental Program. However, Smilanic was expected to go higher than the third round but injuries this past season caused his draft stock to fall. Still, the Panthers get tremendous value in the third round as they can await Smilanic's development under head coach Rand Pecknold for the next few seasons as he gets stronger and better as a hockey player.

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2004 Defenseman Aaron Brown commits to Quinnipiac

Aaron Brown during his time with the Quinte Red Devils

 The Quinnipiac Bobcats remain hot on the recruiting trail as they got a verbal commitment from their first 2004 born player in defenseman Aaron Brown of the Wellington Dukes (OJHL). Brown is a 6'1, 163 pound left shot defenseman who has upside as an offensive defenseman. Brown last season played with the Quinte Red Devils AAA Hockey Team in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association-Eastern Toronto Area (OMHA-ETA). He recorded 49 points (14G, 35A) including 40 penalty minutes in 67 games with the Red Devils last season.

Congratulations to Dukes forward @aaronbrown131 on his @NCAAIceHockey commitment to @QU_MIH

Story 🔗 https://t.co/GMV7nFMxfC pic.twitter.com/xAjj8eywQb

— Wellington Dukes (@OJHLDukes) August 14, 2020

2004 Aaron Brown to @QU_MIH. See one of his reports below. Highly rated player by our Ontario Staff.

See more in his profile ⬇️
👤https://t.co/DGCTC46SUG https://t.co/j58OmE5COa pic.twitter.com/AXeTHCu2oF

— Neutral Zone (@_Neutral_Zone) August 16, 2020

Brown who will play in his first season with Wellington this fall was also drafted in the 3rd round of the 2020 OHL Priority Draft by the Flint Firebirds. He was also taken in the 7th round of the 2020 USHL Futures Draft by the Green Bay Gamblers. Brown is definitely a potential flight risk to major junior hockey should he continue an upward development because of the fact he was a top three round OHL draft pick. 

Links

EliteProspects Player Page

  

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2003 Defenseman Nick Wallace commits to Quinnipiac

Nick Wallace with the North Jersey Avalanche

It's been five months since our last blog post due to the COVID-19 situation going on in the world that shut down the college hockey season during the conference tournament. With August 1st as the new date juniors in high school can commit to a college, Quinnipiac picked up a new commit in 2003 born defenseman Nick Wallace of the North Jersey Avalanche who recently captained the U16 team. Wallace is a 5'9, 174 pound left shot defenseman with high end skating ability that can moves pucks out of the defensive zone quickly.

Huge congrats to U16 Captain Nick Wallace on his commitment to Quinnipiac!! One of the best all around young men to play for the Avs. Treats people the right way, cares for others and is a great leader. Pro skating ability and as tough as they come. #avsfamily pic.twitter.com/GTsM1gqh3N

— North Jersey Avs (@NJ_Avalanche) August 1, 2020

Wallace finished the 2019-2020 with one goal and 12 assists in 23 games for the U16 North Jersey Avalanche. He also played two games for the Tri-City Storm (USHL) which made him a second round pick in the 2019 USHL Futures Draft. However, his rights were traded this past May to the Madison Capitols where he will play the 2020-2021 season.

Links

EliteProspects Player Page

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Q&A with Quinnipiac commit Seamus Campbell

Seamus Campbell playing at the NAHL Prospects Tournament

Its been a little over two weeks since the surprise end to the NCAA hockey season due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the United States. With no hockey and no sports in general in sight, its a good time to get a Q&A up with one of the Bobcats most recent commits in 2002 born forward Seamus Campbell, a Missouri native who spent this past season with the St. Louis Jr. Blues of the NA3HL. Thank you to Seamus for taking the time out of his schedule to do this interview.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: First off congratulations. What are you emotions like after making this decision to commit to Quinnipiac?

Seamus Campbell: Thank you! I'm very excited to have the opportunity in the future to play for a great program on a great campus. I cannot wait to get there and meet the people.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: Tell us about your overall recruiting experience with Quinnipiac and in general as well?

Seamus Campbell: I first got into contact with Quinnipiac when I was about 14 years old. Since then I’ve stayed in contact with coach Bill Riga about how hockey was going for me in general. He was always there if i had any questions which was amazing.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: Were any other NCAA teams recruiting you as well and if so which ones?

Seamus Campbell: I was talking to Boston University, Boston College and Michigan but I had decided Quinnipiac was the best option as i felt we were farther along in the recruiting process and I could pursue hockey more here.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: Your currently playing the in the NA3HL. Most of the commits that we see across the NCAA rarely come from there. What are some of the reasons you are playing in that league and is part of it due to having the ability to still play high school hockey in Missouri ?

Seamus Campbell: Part of me wanted to play out of state this year and while I know that would have been a great option, I also know that this league was great for preparing me for any future junior leagues. It also was a plus to stay in St. Louis to get a local high school education along with playing high school hockey in my hometown. 

BobcatsHockeyBlog: What are some of the areas of your game that you want to improve upon in the next couple of years of junior hockey in order to prepare for the collegiate level?

Seamus Campbell:  I think the biggest aspect of my game that needs improving is my size. I need to spend most of my time working out and getting bigger and stronger to be able to play at the next level.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: You signed a tender with the Aberdeen Wings of the NAHL. What went into that decision to play in that league next season as opposed to playing possibly the USHL?

Seamus Campbell: I had met coach Lang at the NAHL top prospects weekend and he described to me the team and organization. It all seemed really well rounded and it sounded like I'd be a very good fit for the organization.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: Your father Jim Campbell played a number of years in the NHL for multiple organizations. What did you learn from him growing up that has helped you get to this point of playing Division I hockey in the future ?

Seamus Campbell: My dad had always said to be the best and never give up. He has a saying my friends and I always quote, “score more”, and they tend to exaggerate his Boston accent. We always find a laugh from that. He also taught us from a young age "ELE" (everybody love everybody). So in a sense he taught me to be extremely competitive on the ice and a great friend off the ice. I think anybody in any league can take those sayings into account for themselves.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: You made history as the first active NA3HL player to make the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings. Have you had a lot of conversations with NHL teams over that course of the season?

Seamus Campbell:  I haven’t talked to any teams yet, but I heard that during the top prospect camp, there was a few teams that came to watch which I’m super stoked about.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: Do you feel any pressure to try to get drafted by a team or are you someone who says if it happens it happens as it’s not the end of the world and it will make you just go to push harder?

Seamus Campbell: I mean I do feel a little pressure because it would be great to get drafted, but if it doesn’t happen wherever I go, I’ll just play the best I can there and see what happens. I will definitely have a "prove them wrong" kind of mentality if I don't get drafted.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: In this day an age you are definitely seeing players drafted in their second and third draft years so there is that there is always next year mentality that you have to have

Seamus Campbell: Definitely. I think everyone should have that type of mentality.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: Who to this point in your life has been your biggest influence to get to this point?

Seamus Campbell: 100% my dad. I wouldn’t be here right now without him.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: What should the Quinnipiac community expect from Seamus Campbell on and off the ice when you arrive?

Seamus Campbell: Off the ice at Quinnipiac, I hope to be a student active in the community. I want to make as many friends as possible because I know they’ll last a lifetime. On the ice, I want to be a player who scores the most goals.

BobcatsHockeyBlog: What does Seamus Campbell like to do when he is not playing hockey?

Seamus Campbell: I have felt I always had pretty good artistic side, so I enjoy to drawing and listening to music. I'm not really one who goes to parties and all that as I think it’s too complicated. I'm always down to hang with my friends and watch movies. But i think when I'm not playing hockey, I am just relaxing and trying not to complicate my life.

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