Quinnipiac Hockey recruiting notes 11/21/2016

It was another successful weekend for the Quinnipiac men's hockey team as they took four points with a weekend swept on the road against Cornell and Colgate. The team is now headed overseas to Belfast, Northern Ireland for the Friendship Four tournament on Friday. With that said let's take a look at the future Bobcats as they continue their development in junior hockey towards reaching Hamden in the near future.

Matt Cassidy (photo by Joni Coons)

It was a great weekend for a trio of Quinnipiac commits playing in the North American Hockey League. 1999 forward Matt Cassidy had a five point weekend (3 goals and 2 assists) for the Springfield Junior Blues in a pair of wins over the Kenai River Brown Bears. It has been an adjustment for Cassidy as he is one of the youngest players on the team made up of a lot of 1996, 1997 and 1998 born players. He had only three assists in his first twelve games of the season before scoring his first goal on October 28th. Since scoring his first goal he has seven points in his last eight games for Springfield. Cassidy has the ability to be a big time scorer dating back to his time with Team Comcast U16 when he put up 121 points in 56 games in the 2014-15 season. That season got him noticed with USA scouts and he was invited to the US National Program Development camp. He did not make the national program and continued with Team Comcast. He did get called up for four games a season ago with the National Program but did not record a point. He also played two games last year for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL and scored a goal for them. In 20 games for Springfield this year, he has four goals and six assists but his confidence is growing and this should lead to better things to come for him.

John DeRoche (photo by Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

1998 forward John DeRoche played in his first three games for the Topeka Road Runners (NAHL) this weekend after getting traded to them from the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders (USHL) in a massive house cleaning after the Rough Riders got off to a brutal start. DeRoche was held scoreless in his debut but busted out the next two nights with a hat trick in an 8-7 win for Topeka on Friday and had a goal and an assist in a 6-5 overtime loss on Saturday. DeRoche struggled early in the season with Cedar Rapids only having one assist in ten games played. A year ago for Cedar Rapids he had 14 points (5 goals and 9 assists) in 39 games for the Rough Riders and was expected to increase that production this season but it never came to fruition. The smaller forward has good scoring ability as he put up 70 points (31 goals and 39 assists) in 30 games three years ago for the Boston Jr. Bruins 16U team. DeRoche has a good opportunity to rebuild his confidence with Topeka and be a featured player for them the rest of the season.

1998 forward Khristian Acosta had a three point weekend for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights chipping in with three assists in two wins over the Johnstown Tomahawks. In 13 games for the Knights he has six goals and ten assists for the team. He is one of three future Bobcats to already sign a letter of intent (Odeen Tufto and Ryan Finnegan the others).

1996 forward Matt Forchuk had a good week. In three games played, he had a goal and three assists. He is second in the AJHL in scoring with 12 goals and 24 assists. It was the first goal he scored since October 30th. He had been a bit quiet lately and had been held scoreless in three of the past six games.

Keith Petruzzelli (photo by Muskegon Lumberjacks)

1999 goaltender Keith Petruzzelli had a good weekend in the crease stopping 66 of 69 shots in two losses against the Sioux City Musketeers. The big goaltender has seen the majority of the game minutes for Muskegon while splitting time with Adam Brizgala. In 12 games, Petruzzelli has a 7-3 record with a 2.06 goals against average and a .929 save percentage with one shutout. It's very possible he will be the Bobcats highest ever draft pick as he is rated a B level prospect according to NHL Central Scouting meaning he could go within the second or third rounds of the 2017 NHL Draft.

Staying on the Petruzzelli topic, a source confirms to me that Keith's brother D.J. (1997 forward), also a Quinnipiac commit who is playing for the Springfield Jr. Blues along with Cassidy has been out of the lineup with a lower body injury that could be a lengthy injury. He was off to a good start for Springfield with a goal and three assists in five games.

2001 defenseman Dom Fensore has six points in his last four games (3 goals and 3 assists). In nine games this season he has seven points (3 goals and 4 assists). He is a skilled defenseman who SBN's Jeff Cox projected could be a player in the US National Developmental Camp in 2017.

Last weekend both Ethan Phillips and P.J. Fletcher competed for the South Kent 15U at the New England regional championships. While the team finished 2-2 losing in overtime to the Yale 15U team in the championship game both players had four point weekends. Phillips finished the weekend with a goal and three assists while Fletcher had two goals and two assists.

Quinnipiac is in a recruiting battle for a top 2002 Finnish defenseman in Ruben Rafkin who is playing two years above his age group with the 16U Selects teams at the South Kent School in Connecticut. Rafkin visited the Quinnipiac campus on October 3rd and just recently took a visit to Boston University on November 15th. It's not not known if he plans to visit any other schools at this time. This would be an important recruiting win for Quinnipiac should they be able to beat out a program like Boston University who continue to go after highly thought of players to stock their roster.

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

Quinnipiac dominates Colgate in 7-3 win

The No. 4/6 Quinnipiac Bobcats swept a weekend slate of games in New York with a dominating 7-3 win this afternoon against Colgate at Class of 1965 Arena for their fourth consecutive victory. With the win, Quinnipiac moves to 9-3-1 overall and 5-1 in ECAC and moved into first place in the standings pending the outcome of the St. Lawrence and Brown game tonight. The Bobcats had control of this game for the majority of it and pulled away once Colgate cut the lead to one goal. Five different Bobcats scored goals and a total of twelve Bobcats recorded points on the night. This was a game that Quinnipiac could have put up a ten spot on the Raiders if it wasn't for the early solid play of Colgate's Charlie Finn.

Tim Clifton (photo by Tampa Bay Times)

Quinnipiac got the scoring started 3:51 in the first period when Tim Clifton scored a dirty goal on Finn that was initially waved off by the officials before being reviewed and overturned. A little more than two minutes later it was Tim Clifton again giving the Bobcats a 2-0 lead. Scott Davidson assisted on both of Clifton's first period goals along with Craig Martin and Karlis Cukste. Colgate got within one with less than a minute to play on a Brett Corkey goal off the face off that was blasted through Truehl from the point.

The Bobcats made the score 3-1 on a power play goal from K.J. Tiefenwerth 7:02 into the second period from both Brogan Rafferty and Craig Martin who picked up his second assist of the game. Six minutes later Tommy Schutt got the Bobcats fourth goal of the night set up from a great cross ice pass from Derek Smith. Tiefenwerth also picked up an assist on Schutt's goal. Colgate got back within two on the power with five minutes to play in the second on a Jacob Panetta goal which ended the Bobcats streak of killing off penalties at thirty in a row.

Scott Davidson (photo by Richard Gagnon)

Colgate got within a goal early in the third period on a goal by Tim Harrison but the Bobcats scored consecutive goals within the next four minutes of the third period extending the lead back to three. Tommy Schutt scored at the 4:50 mark of third from Brogan Rafferty and just under two minutes later it was Connor Clifton rifling a shot from the point to give the Bobcats a 6-3. Brogan Rafferty and Scott Davidson both picked up their third assist of the game on Clifton's goal. Bo Pieper capped the scoring at the 16:24 mark with a power play goal from Thomas Aldworth and Landon Smith. Quinnipiac scored on two of its eight power play opportunities for a 25% clip. Chris Truehl made 21 saves for his fourth consecutive win.

Multiple point scorers for the Bobcats tonight, include Tim Clifton and Tommy Schutt each scoring a pair of goals while Brogan Rafferty and Scott Davidson each had three assists. Craig Martin also had two assists in the game while K.J. Tiefenwerth had a goal and an assist.

Quinnpiac now heads to Belfast, Northern Ireland for the Friendship Four Tournament when they play Saint Lawrence in ECAC action on Friday.

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

Truehl strong in goal as Quinnipiac downs Cornell 3-1

No. 4/6 Quinnipiac went on the road Friday night before a sellout crowd at Lynah Rink for Cornell's home opener and came away with a 3-1 win. The win improved the Bobcats 8-3-1 on the season and 4-1 in ECAC play. They are tied for second in the ECAC standings with Clarkson and a point behind first place that is currently shared by St. Lawrence and Union.

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

Quinnipiac quieted the Lynah faithful early, when it started the scoring 10:40 into the first period when Tim Clifton took a Craig Martin pass that split two defenders and backhanded a shot from his knees past Cornell goaltender Mitch Gillam. The Big Red responded a little over two minutes later when Anthony Angello scored on a rebound after Chris Truehl denied two Cornell chances from Patrick McCarron and Mitch Vanderlaan who both got credited for the assists on Angello's goal. Truehl was strong in the first period turning away nine of the ten Cornell shots.

Chris Truel (photo by Mickey Bedell/Bangor Daily News)

The Bobcats scored the game winner 2:52 into the second period on a power play goal by Chris Martin with assists by K.J. Tiefenwerth and Chase Priskie. On the night Quinnipiac was 1 of 4 on power play opportunities. Quinnipiac added an insurance goal at 16:48 mark in the period when Bo Pieper's shot went off the leg of a Cornell defenseman and into the net. Freshman Brogan Rafferty got the only assist on Pieper's goal.  Truehl stopped all seven Cornell shots in the second period.

In the third, the Quinnipiac defense buckled in and suffocated the Cornell offense into submission for the entire period. Late in the game Quinnipiac had to kill off a tripping penalty with Cornell pulling its goaltender. The Bobcats penalty kill was outstanding again killing off all four Cornell power play chances and 29 straight. Chris Truehl made save late in the game that the officials took minutes to review only to wave off no goal. The Quinnipiac goaltender stopped 21 of 22 shots for his third straight win and five of the last six and had very good rebound control in this game.

Quinnipiac has a quick turnaround tomorrow with a 4pm start at Colgate in the Raiders brand new Class of 1965 Arena before heading the Belfast, Northern Ireland this coming week for the Friendship Four tournament. 

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

Scouting the enemy: Colgate Raiders

Saturday night the No. 4/6 Quinnipiac Bobcats travel to Hamilton, New York in their first visit to Colgate's new Class of 1965 Arena. The new arena has been a project years in the making and should help elevate Colgate's recruiting to a certain degree. On paper this is a team that is one of the least talented teams in the ECAC along with Brown and Princeton. That said they have a solid coach in Don Vaughan who has led Colgate behind the bench since the 1992-1993 season. He has taken three Raider teams to the NCAA tournament in his time in Hamilton (2000, 2005, 2014). He usually does a good job getting the most of out of the limited talent he has on the roster. However a season ago expectations were high in Hamilton and the bottom dropped out from under the team and they finished with an 11-24-2 record.  Expectations are low this season for Colgate as they were picked 11th in the preseason coaches poll and 10th in the preseason media poll. So far they have not played great at home with a 1-1-3 record in the new barn.

Class of 1965 Arena (photo by Colgate Athletics)

Offensively, Colgate got cleaned out from last years team. They lost their top four scorers who combined for 114 points (48 goals and 68 assists) in the Spink brothers (Tyson and Tyler), Mike Borkowski and Darcy Murphy. So far they are ranked 49th in the nation in scoring offense at 2.36 goals per game but of the the ECAC teams that ranks 8th (RPI, Dartmouth, Brown and Princeton have worse offenses). They have had to rely on a handful of underclassmen for production this season with the top five scoring forwards either a freshman or sophomore. The teams leading scorer is sophomore Adam Dauda who has three goals and five assists in nine games played. Two freshman are the second and third leading scorers on the team in Bobby McMann (2 goals and 5 assists) and John Snodgrass (6 assists). A couple of other underclassmen have shown some production in sophomore Hunter Racine (3 goals and 1 assist) and freshman Jared Cockrell (2 goals and 2 assists). The lone draft pick up front is senior Tim Harrison (2013 6th round, Calgary) who has two goals and two assists on the season. For a team that has struggled offensively this season, Colgate has a middle of the pack power play at 29th in the country converting at 17.57% clip (13-of-74). Quinnipiac defensively should be able to match up well with this team, as they have the ability to close passing lanes and take away space against a team that does not have a lot of offensive talent. The Bobcats need to be able to force the inexperienced Colgate offense to make mistakes in turn capitalizing off those mistakes to produce offense of their own.

On defense the Raiders are a middle of the pack team as they are 34th in the nation scoring defense at 3.09 goals per game. Its another area where they are playing many underclassmen. They are led by two seniors in Brett Corkey (2 goals and 3 assists) and Jake Kulevich (1 goal and 4 assists) who are the 4th and 5th leading scorers on the team respectively. The players who have seen the most game action from the blue line for the Raiders are freshman Ross Craig (1 goal 2 assists), freshman Jacob Panetta (2 assists), sophomore Ken Citron (2 assists), sophomore Willie Brooks (1 goal) and freshman Paul Meyer. They are not a defense that wows you with talent or is great in transition but but they do a solid job with the talent they have. They do stand out on the penalty kill where they have killed 87% (67-of-77) of the opposing teams power play opportunities.

Charlie Finn (photo by Dave Schwarz/St. Cloud Times)

In goal they start four year starter Charlie Finn who has 49 career wins prior to Friday's game against Princeton. Finn is a smaller goalie in net at 5'11 175 pounds but has the ability to cover a lot of the net with quickness and agility. A season ago was the worst of Finn's career at Colgate when he went 10-23-1 with a 3.28 goals against average and a .899 save percentage. He has played in nine games so far this season and has bounced back a bit with a 2-4-3 record with a 2.67 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. He battled off season surgery and had to battle out highly touted recruit Colton Point a 2016 5th round draft pick by the Dallas Stars for the number one job.

Overall this is a very winnable game for Quinnipiac, as they are the more talented team across the board than Colgate and have a big coaching edge as well. As long as the Bobcats do not take dumb penalties and they can dictate the game on their terms there is no reason that they shouldn't walk out of Class of 1965 Arena with 2 ECAC points.

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

Former Quinnipiac goaltender Michael Gartieg called up by Canucks

Former Quinnipiac University goaltender has been recalled by the NHL's Vancouver Canucks as it was announced in a press release today. Garteig was currently playing for the ECHL's Alaska Aces. He has appeared in six games for the Aces totaling a 5-1 record with a 2.52 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.

Michael Garteig (photo by Kim Klement/USA Today Sports)

The former Bobcat standout is a Prince George, British Columbia native who signed with his hometown Canucks on April 29, 2016. Garteig played 124 games for the Bobcats finishing with a record of 78-25-16, a 1.98 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. He holds the school career record for shutouts at 19. He was part of two Quinnipiac teams that reached the Frozen Four (2013, 2016) and reached the NCAA tournament each of his four seasons in Hamden.  

Prior to arriving in Hamden, Garteig played three seasons in the British Columbia Hockey League for the Powell River Kings and Penticton Vees.  He won the BCHL Top Goaltender Awards in 2011 and 2012, and was a member of the 2012 Royal Bank Cup-winning Powell River Kings team.

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

Scouting the enemy: Cornell Big Red

The No. 4/6 Quinnipiac Bobcats head up to New York state once again this Friday beginning with a game against Cornell in what will be the Big Red's home opener. Outside of Quinnipiac's rivalry with Yale, the Cornell Big Red might be the Bobcats second biggest ECAC rival. There is no love lost between head coaches Rand Pecknold of Quinnipiac and Mike Schaefer of Cornell. Schaefer has called out Pecknold in the past as a "fucking classless asshole", stemming from a November 2014 game which Cornell lost 1-0 to Quinnipiac. In that game Quinnipiac's Matthew Peca boarded Cornell's Cole Bardreau from behind (in 2013 Bardreau suffered a broken neck which ended his season and almost his career from a hit from behind) which caused Schaefer to go off in the press conference after he heard Pecknold argued for an embellishment penalty on Bardreau. There was also a 2013 ECAC Quarterfinal game which Quinnipiac won 10-0 which had multiple scrums and Schaefer accused Pecknold of running up the score. This young rivalry with the amount of bad blood and frequent playoff series between these teams reminds me of the rivalry between the Bruins and Canadiens to a much lessor extent.

The Big Red are off to a 2-2-1 start this year but all games have come on the road. Cornell leads the all-time series against Quinnipiac, 17-15-4. The Bobcats rallied to win in overtime, 5-4, on Nov. 7, 2015 in its last trip at Lynah Rink. Quinnipiac has won three ECAC playoffs series against Cornell (2007, 2013, 2016) and lost one to them (2011). Former Bobcats assistant coach Ben Syer is the Big Red's associate head coach. Lynah Rink is likely the toughest rink in the ECAC to play in with a very loud student section so as always winning there is a challenge.

Anthony Angello (photo by Cornell Athletics)

Once again Cornell is a big team on offense something that has been a trademark of Mike Schaefer teams. However with his freshman recruiting class Schaefer wanted to get the Big Red smaller and quicker this season and that is highlighted by Noah Bauld, Connor Murphy and Corey Hoffman up front. Both Bauld and Murphy have played four games apiece while Hoffman has yet to see game action. Cornell does still have ten forwards six feet or taller on the roster so there is going to be some transition over the next few years if Schaefer is truly making a full move to a smaller, quicker roster. Cornell is averaging 3.20 goals per game on offense which is 21st in the nation and while its power play is struggling at 13.33% (4-of-30). Quinnipiac's penalty kill is once again one of the best in the country at 90.1% (64-of-71) which is good for 6th in the nation.

The Big Red offense is headlined by a trio of leading scorers in sophomore Anthony Angello (2014 5th round, Pittsburgh) who has two goals and three assists and 5'7 sophomore forward Mitch Vanderlaan who has five goals already for Cornell. Junior Trevor Yates has two goals and three assists while sophomore Beau Starrett (2014 3rd round, Chicago) has a goal and two assists. Other players to watch out for on Cornell are junior Jared Fiegel (2014 7th round, Arizona), senior Matt Buckles (2013 4th round, Florida) and junior Dwyer Tschantz (2014 7th round, St. Louis). The key for Quinnipiac in this game will be using smaller, quicker forwards to get around the bigger slower Cornell team along with tiring them out. Winning neutral zone battles will be key for Quinnipiac in order to force mistakes from the Big Red and create offensive zone scoring opportunities.

Mitch Gilliam (photo by Ned Dykes/Cornell Athletics)

Defensively Cornell has moved to some smaller quicker players on the blue line to help their transition game. So far they have been rewarded with solid play on defense with the Big Red giving up only 2.60 goals per game which is good for 18th in the nation. They are getting some solid production on the blue line from players like freshman Yanni Kaldis (4 assists), senior Patrick McCarron (3 assists) and sophomore Alec McCrea (1 goal and 2 assists). What is impressive so far about the Cornell defense is the 93 blocked shots in 5 games played so far (18.6 per game). The ability of the Big Red to block shots at a high rate will be a challenge for the Bobcats to find clear paths to the net. Getting onto the power play is a must for Quinnipiac in order to create more scoring opportunities where Cornell's shot blocking might be neutralized to a degree. Cornell boosts a solid penalty killing unit at 86.7% (26-of-30).

In goal Cornell has one of the better goaltenders in the league in Mitch Gilliam. The senior is starting his third full season for the Big Red. He is off to an solid start on the year at 2-2-1 with a 2.84 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. He has 8 career shutouts (7 came last season) and a career save percentage in the .920's. Gilliam has seven games of experience the past two years against Quinnipiac so there nothing that the Bobcats have not seen with Gilliam before. He brings experience and confidence in his ability to take over a game so the Bobcats need to do a good job creating traffic in front of the net in order to score some greasy goals.

Overall I would expect this game to be a fast paced and physical between two programs that have no love for each other. With this being Cornell's home opener the Lynah faithful will be rocking making this an even greater challenge. Getting out to an early lead would serve Quinnipiac well in order to quiet what is expected to be a very hostile environment.

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

Quinnipiac Hockey recruiting notes 11/14/2016

It was a great weekend for Quinnipiac hockey sweeping both Dartmouth and Harvard at home in ECAC play and some future Bobcats also had good weekends with their respective juniors teams.

Odeen Tufto (photo by Dan Hickling)

1997 forward Odeen Tufto who has already signed a national letter of intent last year with Quinnipiac had a very good weekend for the Fargo Force. In three games he had two goals and two assists. He is tied for 4th in team scoring for Fargo with nine points (2 goals and 7 assists) in 15 games played. Tufto is in his first season for Fargo after spending the 2015-16 season with the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League where he had 65 points (25 goals and 40 assists) in 57 games. The Minnesota native is expected to arrive in Hamden for the fall of 2017.

1998 defenseman Zach Metsa had two assists for the Merritt Centennials (BCHL) this past weekend and now has 14 assists in 24 games played this year.

1996 forward Matt Forchuk had only one assist this weekend for the Canmore Eagles in a game against the Brooks Bandits. He has cooled of since his blazing hot start and has only two assists since announcing his commitment to Quinnipiac on November 1st. He has not scored a goal since October 30th and is also no longer leading the AJHL in scoring.

Justin Robbins (photo by North Jersey Avalanche)

1999 goaltender Justin Robbins of the North Jersey Avalanche had a big weekend against the west coast Tier I elite hockey teams. He had two shutouts on the weekend over the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes and the LA Jr. Kings making a total of 57 saves in the two shutouts. In ten Tier I games this year he is 8-1 with a 2.20 GAA and a .924 save percentage with two shutouts. Robbins is property of the Chicago Steel as an affiliate player.

1999 forward Corey Clifton, a teammate of fellow commit Justin Robbins had a four point weekend for the North Jersey Avalanche as they swept four games against west coast Tier I Elite Hockey Leage teams. He finished with a goal and three assists for the weekend. The younger brother of current Bobcats Tim and Connor Clifton, Corey now has 14 points (3 goals and 11 assists) in 15 Tier I games.

1998 defenseman TJ Brown picked up another assist for the Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL) and now has three goals and eight assists in 22 games played from the blue line.

1997 forward Daniel Winslow had a goal and two assists in three games for the New Jersey Hitmen Premier team over the weekend. On the season he now has seven goals and five assists in 21 games played.

2002 forward Jacob Quillan had a three point weekend with a goal and two assists. The youngest player on the Steel Subaru Major Midgets now has nine points on the season (2 goals and 7 assists) in 15 games played.

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