Michael Prapavessis is a rarity.
Oh, he may well end up being a very outstanding addition to the Engineers this coming fall. From all indications, he almost certainly will be an excellent defensive add, and a real quarterback for the RPI power play. But when I say "rarity," I'm not talking about his talent.
As a draft pick of the Dallas Stars, he's very much an oddity in the college hockey world. Why? Because Dallas just doesn't draft a lot of college-bound players. There were only two players last season who saw the ice in all of college hockey whose rights were owned by Dallas: Michigan's Alex Guptill (who signed with the Stars following the year, foregoing his senior season) and Maine's Devin Shore (who led the Black Bears in scoring last year by a country mile).
Every other team in the NHL, with the exception of Detroit (three), had at least twice the number of prospects playing in Division I last season, and most had six or more - Florida and Chicago led the way with a whopping 14 players each.
What does that mean for Prapavessis? To answer, we should first take a look at what the draft means.
The NHL draft is unique among professional sports drafts in North America in that a drafted player does not give up his amateur status in order to either be drafted or have their rights maintained. The two most followed drafts, put on by the NFL and NBA, require potential draftees with remaining collegiate eligibility to relinquish that eligibility before the draft even takes place. In baseball, drafted players may choose to sign with their team, relinquishing amateur status, or they can choose not to, in which case the drafting team loses rights to the player.
Hockey is different. As outlined very well by SB Nation last week, few pay attention to the NHL Entry Draft in part because most of the names called are years out from appearing even in the minor leagues. Teams can draft players and then allow them to continue their development in college or in major junior leagues until making a decision on signing them. When it comes to college players, they have 30 days after the player leaves school (past two years out from the draft) to sign them before losing their rights. That can, in some instances, give teams as many as five or six years to monitor a prospect's development before making a decision to offer a contract.
When it comes to draftee development, NHL teams certainly don't mind leaving a player in college or major junior for a few years. That's development that doesn't cost them a nickel. Frequently, they only come calling when they feel a player is ready for the pros, or that their development will be accelerated or enhanced in the minors.
From a college program's perspective, the NHL Draft has a number of edges. One benefit of having players drafted comes in simple prestige, but the draft, by its nature, limits a player's options. That's also potentially beneficial.
RPI fans can see this benefit illustrated in the early departures of Ryan Haggerty and Mike Zalewski. Neither player was drafted, and both players had solid seasons last year as free agents that impressed scouts enough to draw contract offers. With free agents, NHL teams have to jockey with each other in order to sign the ones they want to develop. Zalewski could have potentially had many offers on the table, or it's possible Vancouver was the first one, seeking to get in ahead of other teams to gain his services for the future.
In a world where Zalewski had been drafted, however, that dynamic doesn't exist. The only question becomes the needs and plans of the team holding his rights. If Columbus, for instance, held his rights, Vancouver wouldn't have been showing up with a contract, and the only concern is whether Columbus wants him to keep developing for free in college.
This is also well illustrated by the only drafted player on the RPI roster last season - Jason Kasdorf. There was more than a little speculation among RPI fans following Kasdorf's injury that Winnipeg could potentially sign him away, but in the bigger picture, this made little sense. Goaltending needs especially being easier to establish, one only had to look at the fact that Winnipeg had another goaltender in college hockey - UMass-Lowell's Connor Hellebuyck - who was putting up fantastic numbers.
If you were going to choose between signing a player with two outstanding seasons under his belt, including one in which he led his team to the Frozen Four (and was drafted in an earlier round), and signing one that had one outstanding season and then suffered a season-ending injury that snuffed out his second and is untested since the injury, which would you sign? You'd probably sign the same one Winnipeg signed, as Hellebuyck has left Lowell after two years, and you'd leave the other in college to see how he bounces back from his injury.
So in some ways, it's good to have NHL draft picks on your roster. It's honestly not a matter of simply having more talent and having a better team - yes, being drafted by the NHL means a player probably has more overall talent, but hockey's still a team sport. This year's national championship was won by a team with a total of one NHL draftee on their roster (beating a team with 14). A year earlier, it was a team with just four. Having few draftees isn't necessarily a hindrance, just as having many isn't a panacea.
But there are certainly drawbacks as well. The biggest of them have to do with team needs. If an NHL team is lacking at a position where your team has one of their draftees, they might be leaving sooner rather than later. More concerning can often be the preferences of front offices when it comes to development. There are some that are more likely than others to tell a prospect that they'd prefer to see them playing in major junior rather than staying in (or going to) school. Non-draftees don't have a team hovering over them giving their opinions.
That brings us back to Prapavessis. Why does Dallas have so few prospects playing college hockey? Are they shuffling players away from the NCAA?
Prapavessis is Dallas' first college-linked draft selection since 2012, when they drafted Shore in the 2nd round and Lowell defenseman Dmitry Sinitsyn in the seventh round. Shore is still with Maine after two years, Sinitsyn left Lowell after one season and played last year in the WHL.
In 2011, Dallas drafted defenseman Jamie Oleksiak of Northeastern in the first round, and he never played another game in college as he was off to the OHL the following season. In 2010, their one and only collegiate selection was Guptill, who just left Michigan after three years. They also drafted goaltender Jack Campbell in the first round, who had de-committed from Michigan the previous November and chose to play in the OHL instead.
Seeing a pattern?
(As a complete aside to the main topic of this article, Prapavessis' OHL rights are held by London, which has a reputation for being the most ruthless team in major junior when it comes to pursuing college players.)
So what about Los Angeles, you say? They drafted Alec Dillon, slated to be on campus in 2015. We've outlined here that he's a target for Edmonton in the WHL, considering that they traded for his rights. The good news is that the Kings just won their second Stanley Cup in three years with the same goaltender who came up through college (Jonathan Quick, who spent two years at UMass).
However, one of the Kings' scouts is already indicating that their "development guys" are going to be the ultimate arbiters of whether he ends up in Troy or Edmonton. We'll probably know the answer relatively soon, as he'll probably be in Edmonton for the 2014-15 season if that's the route he's going to take.
The NHL draft, as it pertains to college hockey, is a definite crap shoot on many levels. We'll have to see if this year's results ultimately carry positives or negatives for the Engineers.
Showing posts with label mike zalewski. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mike zalewski. Show all posts
Monday, June 30, 2014
Monday, March 18, 2013
Men's Hockey - ECAC Quarterfinals (15/16/17 Mar)
Another year, another wasted opportunity for RPI in the ECAC playoffs. For the 11th consecutive season, the Engineers will miss the ECAC semifinal round, as they fell in three games against the 7th ranked Brown Bears, dropping Game 1 by a 3-1 score, bouncing back for a 6-2 victory in Game 2, and then losing a heartwrenching Game 3, 3-2, despite long stretches of dominant play.
Game 1
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Burgdoerfer
Rogic-Miller-Fulton
Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan
No changes to the RPI lineup once again, marking the seventh straight game that the Engineers fielded the same lineup with the same lines.
Coming into the game, we mentioned that one of the things the Engineers needed to accomplish on the weekend was to stop the line that included sophomore forward Matt Lorito. Eight minutes into the first period, RPI got caught playing lax defense in their own zone with the Lorito line on the ice, and the Bears capitalized. With an extended opportunity in the RPI zone resembling a power play, Brown got on the board first with a goal by Lorito to make the score 1-0, a happenstance that allowed the Bears to push the focus on their forecheck and defensive mechanisms, which they tend to employ once they have a lead of any sort.
Poor decision making, passing, and puck handling were the stories of the night for the Engineers, who simply could not get any kind of sustained offense going for most of the first two periods of the game, especially following the Lorito goal. To make matters worse, RPI's outstanding power play was kept on the sidelines by an officiating crew that let pretty much anything go all night long for both teams, a net benefit to Brown, whose special teams on both sides of the puck were less than stellar during the regular season.
RPI did get two power play chances in the first two periods. The first came late in the first period, spilling over into the second period but yielding no results. The second occurred late in the second period, and this one proved fruitful as Jacob Laliberte scored his 10th goal of the season in the final minute of the period to tie the game up at one.
With the score tied, things opened up a bit more for the Engineers as Brown needed another goal. This gave the Engineers the opportunity to put more pucks on net than they had in the first two periods, but they were unable to find a way past Anthony Borelli, the other major factor for Brown heading into the weekend. Despite decent puck possession, RPI simply could not find the go ahead goal.
The tipping point came with about two minutes left in regulation. Mark McGowan was absolutely mugged on his way to retrieve the puck deep in the Brown zone, which would have left him in excellent position for a quality scoring opportunity. The uncalled interference - a penalty which went uncalled all night and only once all weekend despite copious examples from both teams - resulted in a turnover, and Brown rushed down the ice in transition, beating Jason Kasdorf with only 1:44 left in the third period to give the Bears a 2-1 edge.
RPI called timeout, and Kasdorf hit the bench after the Engineers got control of the ensuing faceoff. RPI put together few decent chances during the extra attacker stretch, and Brown eventually got it out and scored on the empty net from the RPI blue line, going up 3-1 with 10 seconds left and securing the Game 1 victory.
Game 2
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Burgdoerfer
Rogic-Miller-Fulton
Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan
Brown at #16 RPI
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Burgdoerfer
Rogic-Miller-Fulton
Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan
Kasdorf
No changes to the RPI lineup once again, marking the seventh straight game that the Engineers fielded the same lineup with the same lines.
Coming into the game, we mentioned that one of the things the Engineers needed to accomplish on the weekend was to stop the line that included sophomore forward Matt Lorito. Eight minutes into the first period, RPI got caught playing lax defense in their own zone with the Lorito line on the ice, and the Bears capitalized. With an extended opportunity in the RPI zone resembling a power play, Brown got on the board first with a goal by Lorito to make the score 1-0, a happenstance that allowed the Bears to push the focus on their forecheck and defensive mechanisms, which they tend to employ once they have a lead of any sort.
Poor decision making, passing, and puck handling were the stories of the night for the Engineers, who simply could not get any kind of sustained offense going for most of the first two periods of the game, especially following the Lorito goal. To make matters worse, RPI's outstanding power play was kept on the sidelines by an officiating crew that let pretty much anything go all night long for both teams, a net benefit to Brown, whose special teams on both sides of the puck were less than stellar during the regular season.
RPI did get two power play chances in the first two periods. The first came late in the first period, spilling over into the second period but yielding no results. The second occurred late in the second period, and this one proved fruitful as Jacob Laliberte scored his 10th goal of the season in the final minute of the period to tie the game up at one.
With the score tied, things opened up a bit more for the Engineers as Brown needed another goal. This gave the Engineers the opportunity to put more pucks on net than they had in the first two periods, but they were unable to find a way past Anthony Borelli, the other major factor for Brown heading into the weekend. Despite decent puck possession, RPI simply could not find the go ahead goal.
The tipping point came with about two minutes left in regulation. Mark McGowan was absolutely mugged on his way to retrieve the puck deep in the Brown zone, which would have left him in excellent position for a quality scoring opportunity. The uncalled interference - a penalty which went uncalled all night and only once all weekend despite copious examples from both teams - resulted in a turnover, and Brown rushed down the ice in transition, beating Jason Kasdorf with only 1:44 left in the third period to give the Bears a 2-1 edge.
RPI called timeout, and Kasdorf hit the bench after the Engineers got control of the ensuing faceoff. RPI put together few decent chances during the extra attacker stretch, and Brown eventually got it out and scored on the empty net from the RPI blue line, going up 3-1 with 10 seconds left and securing the Game 1 victory.
Game 2
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Burgdoerfer
Rogic-Miller-Fulton
Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan
Kasdorf
Despite the loss, injury concerns left RPI's lineup untouched for the eight straight game - essentially, there was no one left to be swapped in even if they wanted to change things up. With line chemistry essential this late in the game, a juggling of lines was also out of the question.
The Engineers came out on a mission with their backs against the wall, and they did a decent job of controlling play in the first 20 minutes despite not getting the results they were looking for. Then the officiating reared its ugly head once again. Seconds after Brock Higgs was taken down after blocking a shot into the neutral zone to negate what would have likely been a breakaway, Milos Bubela was called for elbowing on what appeared to be a clean hit, not only being called for the penalty but picking up a major and a game misconduct as well. That was a double whammy that put the Engineers on a long penalty kill situation late in the first period.
RPI knuckled down, killing off the first portion of the penalty in the first period, then a further 1:10 of the major in the first period before a Brown penalty for too many men ended the power play. That power play failed to produce, but the Engineers would grab the key first goal about two minutes later as C.J. Lee scored his sixth goal of the season to put RPI up 1-0. That was followed on three and a half minutes later by Curtis Leonard, whose blast from the blue line put the Engineers up 2-0.
Brown, to their credit, did not fold. They scored their first goal of the night in a similar way as their first goal from Friday, with an extended offensive zone push from the Matt Lorito line. This time, the Bears actually were on the power play, and Lorito's 19th goal of the season cut RPI's lead in half.
Two minutes later, the Engineers were back on the penalty kill when top Brown defenseman Dennis Robertson leveled Nick Bailen behind the play with a vicious knee after Bailen had cleared the puck down the ice. Bailen got up limping and left the game, while Robertson was assessed a five minute major and a game misconduct.
The power play got off to an ignoble start for RPI, as some lax moves to recover a puck outside the zone gave an opportunistic Brown the chance to pounce on the puck and create a shorthanded odd-man rush, which connected to tie the score at two. But minutes later, the Engineers converted on the power play as Jacob Laliberte scored in the last minute of the second period for the second time in as many nights to give RPI the lead once more, 3-2.
The Engineers turned on the afterburners in the third period, playing their best hockey of the weekend and quickly ensuring that there would be hockey on Sunday night. Mike Zalewski scored a pair of even strength goals a little over two and a half minutes apart to make the score 5-2, chasing Anthony Borelli out of the Brown net. Chippiness ensued for the remaining 10 minutes, including late hit by Greg Burgdoerfer that probably should have seen the senior forward tossed from the game but didn't even result in a penalty. Burgdoerfer would then score with 9 seconds left in the contest to make the final score 6-2 in favor of the home team.
Game 3
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Burgdoerfer
Rogic-Miller-Fulton
Leonard-Dolan
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Hampton
Nick Bailen, it was announced in the newspaper on Sunday morning, had suffered a charley horse and would be ready to go by game time. However, as he came out for warmups, he was certainly missing something on his stride and he quickly returned to the locker room. Unable to play, the Engineers' leading scorer was replaced by Phil Hampton, RPI's only healthy reserve defenseman, who had appeared in just three games prior to Sunday night's deciding Game 3. The only other option that the Engineers had would have been to roll with five defensemen, adding Andrew Commers to the lineup as an extra forward.
The Engineers dominated puck possession practically from start to finish on Sunday night, outshooting the Bears on a 2-to-1 ratio in the first period alone, but costly mistakes in transition were capitalized upon by the visitors. Brown scored two goals 50 seconds apart in the middle of the period to go up 2-0, a deficit that seemed enormous due to Brown's proclivity for playing lock-down defense with the lead.
That margin only worsened five minutes into the second period, as another fast-breaking transition turned into a Brown goal on a weak move by Jason Kasdorf, sending Brown up 3-0 and making things look very bleak indeed. That all three goals happened against the flow of play, which was still being dominated by RPI, made things all the more frustrating for the Engineer fans filling Houston Field House.
But rather than pack it in, RPI came back with a renewed effort, especially late in the period. Mark McGowan broke the Engineers onto the board with 2:35 left in the second to cut Brown's lead to 3-1, then just under two minutes later, in the final minute of the second period, Mike Zalewski scored to make it 3-2, injecting life into the crowd and giving RPI the momentum and the initiative heading into the third period.
There, in the final period of the final game, the Engineers poured it on in search of the tying goal. With the Field House rocking, Brown retreated almost completely into their own zone, turning the third period into one giant penalty kill, albeit at even strength for basically the entire period. They committed to keeping the Engineers limited to mostly low percentage opportunities, but RPI came oh so close to tying the score on multiple occasions. It seemed as though a tying goal was practically inevitable, but eventually, time became a factor and the Engineers still had yet to find that goal.
With 1:40 left in the game, both teams used their timeouts, and Jason Kasdorf was pulled in favor of the extra attacker. Brown's desperate defense bent practically all the way over, but never broke. A boarding call against the Bears produced a 6-on-4 situation with 16 seconds remaining, but even that extra advantage was not enough, and far less than winning, the Bears escaped with a 3-2 victory, enough to give them a 2-1 series win, ending RPI's dreams of a berth in the league semifinals for the first time since 2002.
With the loss, the Engineers are now at the mercy of the Pairwise Rankings to find out if their season will continue. The good news is that they are not done yet, but they do need a few things to go their way if they are to continue playing in the NCAA tournament in two weeks. Nothing to do now but wait and see if things fall into place as they did two years ago for a berth in the regionals.
The Engineers came out on a mission with their backs against the wall, and they did a decent job of controlling play in the first 20 minutes despite not getting the results they were looking for. Then the officiating reared its ugly head once again. Seconds after Brock Higgs was taken down after blocking a shot into the neutral zone to negate what would have likely been a breakaway, Milos Bubela was called for elbowing on what appeared to be a clean hit, not only being called for the penalty but picking up a major and a game misconduct as well. That was a double whammy that put the Engineers on a long penalty kill situation late in the first period.
RPI knuckled down, killing off the first portion of the penalty in the first period, then a further 1:10 of the major in the first period before a Brown penalty for too many men ended the power play. That power play failed to produce, but the Engineers would grab the key first goal about two minutes later as C.J. Lee scored his sixth goal of the season to put RPI up 1-0. That was followed on three and a half minutes later by Curtis Leonard, whose blast from the blue line put the Engineers up 2-0.
Brown, to their credit, did not fold. They scored their first goal of the night in a similar way as their first goal from Friday, with an extended offensive zone push from the Matt Lorito line. This time, the Bears actually were on the power play, and Lorito's 19th goal of the season cut RPI's lead in half.
Two minutes later, the Engineers were back on the penalty kill when top Brown defenseman Dennis Robertson leveled Nick Bailen behind the play with a vicious knee after Bailen had cleared the puck down the ice. Bailen got up limping and left the game, while Robertson was assessed a five minute major and a game misconduct.
The power play got off to an ignoble start for RPI, as some lax moves to recover a puck outside the zone gave an opportunistic Brown the chance to pounce on the puck and create a shorthanded odd-man rush, which connected to tie the score at two. But minutes later, the Engineers converted on the power play as Jacob Laliberte scored in the last minute of the second period for the second time in as many nights to give RPI the lead once more, 3-2.
The Engineers turned on the afterburners in the third period, playing their best hockey of the weekend and quickly ensuring that there would be hockey on Sunday night. Mike Zalewski scored a pair of even strength goals a little over two and a half minutes apart to make the score 5-2, chasing Anthony Borelli out of the Brown net. Chippiness ensued for the remaining 10 minutes, including late hit by Greg Burgdoerfer that probably should have seen the senior forward tossed from the game but didn't even result in a penalty. Burgdoerfer would then score with 9 seconds left in the contest to make the final score 6-2 in favor of the home team.
Game 3
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Burgdoerfer
Rogic-Miller-Fulton
Leonard-Dolan
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Hampton
Kasdorf
Nick Bailen, it was announced in the newspaper on Sunday morning, had suffered a charley horse and would be ready to go by game time. However, as he came out for warmups, he was certainly missing something on his stride and he quickly returned to the locker room. Unable to play, the Engineers' leading scorer was replaced by Phil Hampton, RPI's only healthy reserve defenseman, who had appeared in just three games prior to Sunday night's deciding Game 3. The only other option that the Engineers had would have been to roll with five defensemen, adding Andrew Commers to the lineup as an extra forward.
The Engineers dominated puck possession practically from start to finish on Sunday night, outshooting the Bears on a 2-to-1 ratio in the first period alone, but costly mistakes in transition were capitalized upon by the visitors. Brown scored two goals 50 seconds apart in the middle of the period to go up 2-0, a deficit that seemed enormous due to Brown's proclivity for playing lock-down defense with the lead.
That margin only worsened five minutes into the second period, as another fast-breaking transition turned into a Brown goal on a weak move by Jason Kasdorf, sending Brown up 3-0 and making things look very bleak indeed. That all three goals happened against the flow of play, which was still being dominated by RPI, made things all the more frustrating for the Engineer fans filling Houston Field House.
But rather than pack it in, RPI came back with a renewed effort, especially late in the period. Mark McGowan broke the Engineers onto the board with 2:35 left in the second to cut Brown's lead to 3-1, then just under two minutes later, in the final minute of the second period, Mike Zalewski scored to make it 3-2, injecting life into the crowd and giving RPI the momentum and the initiative heading into the third period.
There, in the final period of the final game, the Engineers poured it on in search of the tying goal. With the Field House rocking, Brown retreated almost completely into their own zone, turning the third period into one giant penalty kill, albeit at even strength for basically the entire period. They committed to keeping the Engineers limited to mostly low percentage opportunities, but RPI came oh so close to tying the score on multiple occasions. It seemed as though a tying goal was practically inevitable, but eventually, time became a factor and the Engineers still had yet to find that goal.
With 1:40 left in the game, both teams used their timeouts, and Jason Kasdorf was pulled in favor of the extra attacker. Brown's desperate defense bent practically all the way over, but never broke. A boarding call against the Bears produced a 6-on-4 situation with 16 seconds remaining, but even that extra advantage was not enough, and far less than winning, the Bears escaped with a 3-2 victory, enough to give them a 2-1 series win, ending RPI's dreams of a berth in the league semifinals for the first time since 2002.
With the loss, the Engineers are now at the mercy of the Pairwise Rankings to find out if their season will continue. The good news is that they are not done yet, but they do need a few things to go their way if they are to continue playing in the NCAA tournament in two weeks. Nothing to do now but wait and see if things fall into place as they did two years ago for a berth in the regionals.
Other junk - RPI dropped three spots from 16th to 19th in the national rankings due to their series loss to Brown. Other ranked ECAC teams include #2 Quinnipiac (beat Cornell 2 games to 1, down one with 27 first place votes, more than any other team), #11 Yale (swept SLU, up two), and #18 Union (swept Dartmouth, up one).
Mike Zalewski's three goals in the series gives him 12 for the season, which is the most for an RPI freshman since Kevin Croxton netted 15 in 2003. That ties him for the team lead in goals with Nick Bailen and Ryan Haggerty, making him the first freshman to lead the team in goals since Tyler Helfrich with 9 in 2008 (tied with senior Jonathan Ornelas).
Seth Appert is a finalist for the ECAC's Coach of the Year award. Player nominations have yet to be announced, but one has to suspect that Jason Kasdorf will be a finalist for both the Rookie of the Year and the Goaltender of the Year awards.
RPI had not lost at home for the first time since December in Game 1, snapping a nine-game winning streak.
ECAC Semifinals
#7 Brown vs. #1 Quinnipiac
#4 Union vs. #3 Yale
Mike Zalewski's three goals in the series gives him 12 for the season, which is the most for an RPI freshman since Kevin Croxton netted 15 in 2003. That ties him for the team lead in goals with Nick Bailen and Ryan Haggerty, making him the first freshman to lead the team in goals since Tyler Helfrich with 9 in 2008 (tied with senior Jonathan Ornelas).
Seth Appert is a finalist for the ECAC's Coach of the Year award. Player nominations have yet to be announced, but one has to suspect that Jason Kasdorf will be a finalist for both the Rookie of the Year and the Goaltender of the Year awards.
RPI had not lost at home for the first time since December in Game 1, snapping a nine-game winning streak.
ECAC Semifinals
#7 Brown vs. #1 Quinnipiac
#4 Union vs. #3 Yale
Brown at #16 RPI
ECAC Quarterfinal Game 1 - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
3/15/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: Brown 3, RPI 1
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
3/15/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: Brown 3, RPI 1
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECORD: 17-13-5 (12-7-3 ECAC, 27 points)
Brown at #16 RPI
Brown at #16 RPI
ECAC Quarterfinal Game 2 - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
3/16/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 6, Brown 2
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
3/16/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 6, Brown 2
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECORD: 18-13-5 (12-7-3 ECAC, 27 points)
Brown at #16 RPI
ECAC Quarterfinal Game 3 - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
3/17/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: Brown 3, RPI 2
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
3/17/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: Brown 3, RPI 2
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECORD: 18-14-5 (12-7-3 ECAC, 27 points)
Upcoming games
29 Mar or 30 Mar - NCAA Regional (if qualified)
30 Mar or 31 Mar - NCAA Regional Final (if qualified)
11 Apr - NCAA Frozen Four (Pittsburgh, PA, if qualified)
13 Apr - NCAA Championship (Pittsburgh, PA, if qualified)
05 Oct - Exhibition Game
29 Mar or 30 Mar - NCAA Regional (if qualified)
30 Mar or 31 Mar - NCAA Regional Final (if qualified)
11 Apr - NCAA Frozen Four (Pittsburgh, PA, if qualified)
13 Apr - NCAA Championship (Pittsburgh, PA, if qualified)
05 Oct - Exhibition Game
Monday, February 4, 2013
Men's Hockey - Harvard/Dartmouth (1/2 Feb)
February is about the right time for teams to start making their moves, especially if they're near the bottom and looking to move up, and RPI put forward exactly the right signals on that front, pitching back-to-back shutouts in a home league weekend. They took care of Harvard and Dartmouth by twin 3-0 scores to earn four more big ECAC points as the stretch run begins.
Harvard
Lee-Rogic-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Tinordi
Burgdoerfer-Miller-Commers
Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan
Lee-Rogic-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Tinordi
Burgdoerfer-Miller-Commers
Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan
Kasdorf
Originally, Jacob Laliberte was slated to play against the Crimson, but he was a last minute scratch due to illness. Johnny Rogic was moved up to the top line to replace him, and Andrew Commers got the start on the fourth line instead, making his home-ice debut.
Rogic's time as the top line center was short and came to a very abrupt end just 10:37 into the game, when he was called for checking from behind thanks to a reckless hit at the Harvard bench on Alex Fallstrom. That ended his night early and put Harvard on a five-minute power play that had the potential to put the Crimson into a game they had been floundering in to that point. However, what transpired following the penalty was five solid minutes of the Engineers playing fetch with Harvard, as the penalty kill threw the puck down ice repeatedly. Only once, for a short time, were the Crimson able to even set up in the RPI zone during the long power play, and they were unable to put a single shot on goal while the Engineers managed two of their own.
Late in the first period, RPI put the first goal on the board as Mark Miller redirected a shot from the point by Luke Curadi into the back of the net, giving the Engineers a 1-0 edge heading into the locker room.
Shortly after another fairly easy penalty kill by RPI in the early part of the second period, the Engineers converted on their second power play opportunity of the game thanks to a highlight-reel goal by Mike Zalewski. The freshman skated with the puck from behind the net to the left of the goaltender, waiting so long to find his opening that he eventually went down to his knees and shot from the backhand to score and put RPI up 2-0.
Harvard put the majority of their shots on goal up in the second period, but even that wasn't much of a feat, as Jason Kasdorf stopped just six shots in the second to preserve the shutout going forward. The third was even quieter for him, with Kasdorf stopping only two shots in the third period for a total of 11 in the entire game in his first collegiate shutout.
Meanwhile, Miller scored his second goal of the game to put it away a little under three minutes into the third, shooting from the slot and beating the goaltender top shelf to make it 3-0, which would stand as the final score. The RPI penalty kill ended up 3-for-3 on the evening, including the five-minute major.
Dartmouth
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Tinordi
Burgdoerfer-Miller-Commers
Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan
Originally, Jacob Laliberte was slated to play against the Crimson, but he was a last minute scratch due to illness. Johnny Rogic was moved up to the top line to replace him, and Andrew Commers got the start on the fourth line instead, making his home-ice debut.
Rogic's time as the top line center was short and came to a very abrupt end just 10:37 into the game, when he was called for checking from behind thanks to a reckless hit at the Harvard bench on Alex Fallstrom. That ended his night early and put Harvard on a five-minute power play that had the potential to put the Crimson into a game they had been floundering in to that point. However, what transpired following the penalty was five solid minutes of the Engineers playing fetch with Harvard, as the penalty kill threw the puck down ice repeatedly. Only once, for a short time, were the Crimson able to even set up in the RPI zone during the long power play, and they were unable to put a single shot on goal while the Engineers managed two of their own.
Late in the first period, RPI put the first goal on the board as Mark Miller redirected a shot from the point by Luke Curadi into the back of the net, giving the Engineers a 1-0 edge heading into the locker room.
Shortly after another fairly easy penalty kill by RPI in the early part of the second period, the Engineers converted on their second power play opportunity of the game thanks to a highlight-reel goal by Mike Zalewski. The freshman skated with the puck from behind the net to the left of the goaltender, waiting so long to find his opening that he eventually went down to his knees and shot from the backhand to score and put RPI up 2-0.
Harvard put the majority of their shots on goal up in the second period, but even that wasn't much of a feat, as Jason Kasdorf stopped just six shots in the second to preserve the shutout going forward. The third was even quieter for him, with Kasdorf stopping only two shots in the third period for a total of 11 in the entire game in his first collegiate shutout.
Meanwhile, Miller scored his second goal of the game to put it away a little under three minutes into the third, shooting from the slot and beating the goaltender top shelf to make it 3-0, which would stand as the final score. The RPI penalty kill ended up 3-for-3 on the evening, including the five-minute major.
Dartmouth
Lee-Laliberte-Haggerty
Zalewski-Higgs-Bubela
Neal-McGowan-Tinordi
Burgdoerfer-Miller-Commers
Leonard-Bailen
Leboeuf-Bradley
Curadi-Dolan
Kasdorf
Laliberte, still feeling ill but well enough to give it a go, returned to the lineup on Saturday night for the Freakout!, arguably replacing Johnny Rogic, who was given a one-game suspension by the league thanks to his check from behind during the first period against Harvard. Functionally, it was Andrew Commers getting a second consecutive start due to the Rogic suspension.
A very physical first period was put together by both teams on Saturday night, but you'd never know it by looking at the box score, which shows no penalties whatsoever being called in the first 20 minutes. That set the tone for the rest of the evening, as both teams were called just three times over the course of the game, the second straight night that five-on-five action was the name of the game.
Dartmouth arguably had the best chance of breaking the deadlock early in the game as an initial shot was saved by Kasdorf, but the rebound dropped to a position that left him out of line for the followup save. Fortunately, Guy Leboeuf was standing in the crease at the right time and made a save of his own to keep the Big Green off the board.
Just as it appeared that Dartmouth and RPI were destined to hit the first intermission without scoring, RPI landed a confidence crusher with just 11 seconds remaining in the first period. Leboeuf didn't get all of a one-timer attempt to the goaltender's left off a pass from Matt Neal, but the momentum of the puck carried to Matt Tinordi, situated just a little farther back, and the junior one-timed the puck himself to the back of the net to make it 1-0 at the death of the first.
RPI got enough jump out of the gate early in the second period as well to make it 2-0 just 1:52 of game-time after the Tinordi goal. Brock Higgs found Mike Zalewski sitting alone at point blank range in the slot, and Zalewski one-timed the pass in for his second goal of the weekend.
With about five minutes left in the second, Mark Miller scored his third goal of the weekend on one of the most amazing moves you'll see. Leboeuf found him with a long up-ice pass, and the freshman darted in alone on the Dartmouth net. Despite being tripped up from behind (and no call on the play), Miller stayed with the play, firing the puck while stretched out in mid-air and beating the netminder for a 3-0 RPI edge.
Dartmouth regularly got the puck on Kasdorf, and Saturday night was nothing like Friday for the freshman goalie. He turned away as many shots in the second period - 11 - as he had the entire previous night, and was forced to step up for 12 saves in the third period, but despite the Big Green's fevered attempts in the final period to crawl back into things, Kasdorf and the defenders around him played shutdown hockey. C.J. Lee even chipped in early in the third by slashing apart the stick of a Dartmouth forward who had been in good position to score on a rebound - it resulted in a penalty, but RPI successfully killed it off.
Kasdorf ultimately stopped 28 shots on the night and 39 for the weekend in picking up back-to-back saves for the first time since Nathan Marsters accomplished the feat in 2004 against Cornell and Sacred Heart. More importantly for the Engineers, it was their fourth consecutive win in as many ECAC games, running their record in the last eight league outings to 5-1-2.
Laliberte, still feeling ill but well enough to give it a go, returned to the lineup on Saturday night for the Freakout!, arguably replacing Johnny Rogic, who was given a one-game suspension by the league thanks to his check from behind during the first period against Harvard. Functionally, it was Andrew Commers getting a second consecutive start due to the Rogic suspension.
A very physical first period was put together by both teams on Saturday night, but you'd never know it by looking at the box score, which shows no penalties whatsoever being called in the first 20 minutes. That set the tone for the rest of the evening, as both teams were called just three times over the course of the game, the second straight night that five-on-five action was the name of the game.
Dartmouth arguably had the best chance of breaking the deadlock early in the game as an initial shot was saved by Kasdorf, but the rebound dropped to a position that left him out of line for the followup save. Fortunately, Guy Leboeuf was standing in the crease at the right time and made a save of his own to keep the Big Green off the board.
Just as it appeared that Dartmouth and RPI were destined to hit the first intermission without scoring, RPI landed a confidence crusher with just 11 seconds remaining in the first period. Leboeuf didn't get all of a one-timer attempt to the goaltender's left off a pass from Matt Neal, but the momentum of the puck carried to Matt Tinordi, situated just a little farther back, and the junior one-timed the puck himself to the back of the net to make it 1-0 at the death of the first.
RPI got enough jump out of the gate early in the second period as well to make it 2-0 just 1:52 of game-time after the Tinordi goal. Brock Higgs found Mike Zalewski sitting alone at point blank range in the slot, and Zalewski one-timed the pass in for his second goal of the weekend.
With about five minutes left in the second, Mark Miller scored his third goal of the weekend on one of the most amazing moves you'll see. Leboeuf found him with a long up-ice pass, and the freshman darted in alone on the Dartmouth net. Despite being tripped up from behind (and no call on the play), Miller stayed with the play, firing the puck while stretched out in mid-air and beating the netminder for a 3-0 RPI edge.
Dartmouth regularly got the puck on Kasdorf, and Saturday night was nothing like Friday for the freshman goalie. He turned away as many shots in the second period - 11 - as he had the entire previous night, and was forced to step up for 12 saves in the third period, but despite the Big Green's fevered attempts in the final period to crawl back into things, Kasdorf and the defenders around him played shutdown hockey. C.J. Lee even chipped in early in the third by slashing apart the stick of a Dartmouth forward who had been in good position to score on a rebound - it resulted in a penalty, but RPI successfully killed it off.
Kasdorf ultimately stopped 28 shots on the night and 39 for the weekend in picking up back-to-back saves for the first time since Nathan Marsters accomplished the feat in 2004 against Cornell and Sacred Heart. More importantly for the Engineers, it was their fourth consecutive win in as many ECAC games, running their record in the last eight league outings to 5-1-2.
Other junk - Quinnipiac again just missed the #1 ranking in the nation this week, dropping two first place votes but still coming in at #2 with 20 first place votes after tying Brown and beating Yale. Also ranked this week are #10 Yale (beat Princeton and lost to Quinnipiac, down two), #17 Dartmouth (tied Union and lost to RPI, down one), and #18 Union (beat Harvard and tied Dartmouth, no change). Colgate (46) and St. Lawrence (2) also received votes. Other ranked teams on RPI's schedule this season are #4 New Hampshire (down one), #8 St. Cloud State (up four), #11 Minnesota State (up four), and #13 Boston University (down two). Ferris State (17) also received votes.
Jason Kasdorf holds the second best goals against average in the nation with a 1.44 GAA in 667:27 of game time. That trails only Miami freshman Ryan McKay, who has a 1.08 GAA in 612:33. His .944 save percentage is good enough for fifth in the nation, second only to McKay's nation-leading .960 among freshman. Interestingly, both McKay and Kasdorf are 6-2-2 on the season.
Next weekend, RPI takes their ECAC streak up to the North Country, where on Friday they face one of the hottest teams in the nation outside of Quinnipiac - St. Lawrence is 4-0-2 in their last six games and as a by-product of that, are now sitting alone in fifth place in the ECAC. That's a spot that the Engineers covet, and they can pass the Saints with a win on Friday, where a loss puts them three points behind, making that a big game indeed. The Saturday game in Potsdam will be just as important for RPI, as they are currently tied with the Golden Knights in the ECAC standings.
If everything goes perfectly for RPI next weekend, they could be sitting in as high as 3rd (alone) at the end of Saturday. If everything goes badly, they could end up back in 11th. More likely, they should end up somewhere in between. That's the ECAC for you - but make no mistake every point is precious now, and the Engineers are undoubtedly playing their best hockey of the year.
ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 26 points (12-0-2)
2. Yale - 19 points (9-5-1)
3. Dartmouth - 16 points (7-6-2)
4. Union - 16 points (6-4-4)
5. St. Lawrence - 14 points (5-5-4)
6. Princeton - 13 points (5-6-3)
7. Colgate - 13 points (5-6-3)
8. Clarkson - 13 points (5-6-3)
9. RPI - 13 points (5-6-3)
10. Brown - 13 points (4-6-5)
11. Cornell - 10 points (4-8-2)
12. Harvard - 6 points (3-12-0)
Jason Kasdorf holds the second best goals against average in the nation with a 1.44 GAA in 667:27 of game time. That trails only Miami freshman Ryan McKay, who has a 1.08 GAA in 612:33. His .944 save percentage is good enough for fifth in the nation, second only to McKay's nation-leading .960 among freshman. Interestingly, both McKay and Kasdorf are 6-2-2 on the season.
Next weekend, RPI takes their ECAC streak up to the North Country, where on Friday they face one of the hottest teams in the nation outside of Quinnipiac - St. Lawrence is 4-0-2 in their last six games and as a by-product of that, are now sitting alone in fifth place in the ECAC. That's a spot that the Engineers covet, and they can pass the Saints with a win on Friday, where a loss puts them three points behind, making that a big game indeed. The Saturday game in Potsdam will be just as important for RPI, as they are currently tied with the Golden Knights in the ECAC standings.
If everything goes perfectly for RPI next weekend, they could be sitting in as high as 3rd (alone) at the end of Saturday. If everything goes badly, they could end up back in 11th. More likely, they should end up somewhere in between. That's the ECAC for you - but make no mistake every point is precious now, and the Engineers are undoubtedly playing their best hockey of the year.
ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac - 26 points (12-0-2)
2. Yale - 19 points (9-5-1)
3. Dartmouth - 16 points (7-6-2)
4. Union - 16 points (6-4-4)
5. St. Lawrence - 14 points (5-5-4)
6. Princeton - 13 points (5-6-3)
7. Colgate - 13 points (5-6-3)
8. Clarkson - 13 points (5-6-3)
9. RPI - 13 points (5-6-3)
10. Brown - 13 points (4-6-5)
11. Cornell - 10 points (4-8-2)
12. Harvard - 6 points (3-12-0)
Harvard at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/1/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Harvard 0
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/1/13 - 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Harvard 0
BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO
RECORD: 9-11-5 (4-6-3 ECAC, 11 points)
#16 Dartmouth at RPI
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/2/13 - 7:05pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Dartmouth 0
BOX SCORES
ECAC Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
2/2/13 - 7:05pm
RESULT: RPI 3, Dartmouth 0
BOX SCORES
RECAPS
RECORD: 10-11-5 (5-6-3 ECAC, 13 points)
Upcoming games
08 Feb - at St. Lawrence
09 Feb - at Clarkson
15 Feb - Brown
16 Feb - #10 Yale
22 Feb - at Cornell
08 Feb - at St. Lawrence
09 Feb - at Clarkson
15 Feb - Brown
16 Feb - #10 Yale
22 Feb - at Cornell
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