Amateurish

You should probably get up to speed on the Nic Kerdiles situation in Wisconsin

The University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team could lose high-profile freshman winger Nic Kerdiles to what one school official said was an extraordinary case involving NCAA amateurism rules. 

UW coach Mike Eaves announced Monday that the school is appealing a NCAA decision to make Kerdiles ineligible for the upcoming season. 

If that decision were to stand, it’s doubtful that Kerdiles, a second-round NHL draft pick of Anaheim, would remain in school and return to the Badgers in 2013-14. It’s likely the Ducks would want him to continue his development somewhere else this season, which could mean a move to the Major Junior circuit in Canada. 

... 

Multiple sources in the NHL and college hockey indicate the NCAA acted on photos and postings made public via social media that involve an agent and took place leading up to the NHL Entry Draft in June. 

... 

It’s commonplace for hockey prospects like Kerdiles to have family advisers — almost all are certified as professional sports agents — as long as the adviser abides by NCAA rules that prohibit marketing the player, negotiating with professional teams on the player’s behalf or providing extra benefits like clothes, meals or merchandise of value. 

It’s not clear what specific issues led the NCAA to rule against Kerdiles, an 18-year-old from Irvine, Calif., but the Bucky’s 5th Quarter website culled a photo from an agent’s Twitter account that showed Kerdiles and two of the agent’s clients holding glasses that advertised a specific energy drink. 

The photo could be construed as Kerdiles being marketed by the representative as well as being used to promote a specific product. 

The agent who posted the energy drink photo, Toronto-based Ian Pulver of Pulver Sports, didn’t return a phone call seeking comment Monday. Pulver was also shown in the photo with Kerdiles and others at dinner.

Well, if that just isn't a kick in the pants. As if the NCAA didn't already have enough problems keeping talented young players in school, now something like this comes along to either scare the amateurism back into everyone or drive NHL-minded prospects to major junior.

Like the article says, it's not uncommon for NHL prospects to have "family advisers" while playing in the NCAA - agents in all but name and pay. These "advisers" latch onto prospects in the hopes of cashing in down the road when they negotiate that big contract, a necessary evil when it comes to landing high caliber players for any program, from Wisconsin to RPI.

This "infraction" seems pretty thin. He was caught in a picture with his "adviser" holding a product? Good God, someone call the ambulance, I think I may have fainted.

The NCAA is notorious for being overzealous in its defense of the high and moral position of amateur sports, but college athletics has long been a development area for professional leagues, most notably in football, basketball, and baseball, but in the last 20 years hockey has certainly joined that realm. The major difference with the other three sports is that there isn't really much of a viable alternative to college (unless players are coming right out of high school). That isn't the case with hockey, as a player who can't play in college really won't think twice about heading north of the border to major junior.

This is a simmering problem, and this incident only threatens to make things worse... and for what? A picture on Twitter? Jeez.

Women's Hockey - Wisconsin (18/19 Nov)

Last year, the Engineers opened their season with a road trip to Madison, WI, where the Badgers thoroughly dismantled RPI en route to 7-0 and 6-0 blowouts. In those games last year, there were few positives to be had, and it looked like RPI was playing shorthanded nearly the entire game.

This year, with nearly half the season gone before the teams met in Troy for a rematch, RPI was much better prepared to take on the #1 team in the country. While the Engineers again suffered two losses, Friday's game was a very close 4-3 contest in which RPI led twice, and Saturday's 8-2 final - while looking extremely lopsided - still offered more than a few positives and learning opportunities for the Engineers.

Friday

Cox/Smelker/Horton

Vandegrift/Guillemette/Harrison

Sanders/Mahoney/Svoboda

Letuligasenoa

Castignetti/Vadner

Le Donne/Marzario

Schilter/Walsh

O'Brien

Whether it was the result of a week off for the Badgers, the long trip to Troy, or a case of underestimating their opponent, Wisconsin looked a little off their game on Friday night, and all the Engineers had to do to get into the game was weather a few minutes of very strong Badger pressure to open the game.

In the opening four minutes of Friday's contest, Wisconsin had racked up a 10-0 shot advantage, but the Engineers did a good job of blocking shots from the front and limiting opportunities to sharp angles, giving Kelly O'Brien a good chance at each one.

Five minutes into the opening frame, RPI made it clear to the visitors that they weren't going to just sit back and take a beating, as Jordan Smelker and Eleeza Cox capitalized on a Wisconsin turnover at their own blue line to make it 1-0. Smelker broke past the backchecking Badger defense and fed Cox across the crease who beat netminder Alex Rigsby for the early lead.

The goal gave the Engineers life and for the next several minutes the play was remarkably close, with several opportunities each way, but the momentum shifted back in the Badgers' favor past the midpoint of the period when Jill Vandegrift was sent off on a hooking call. Less than a minute into the penalty kill, Amanda Castignetti tripped up a Badger skater and Carolyne Prevost beat O'Brien on the delayed penalty off a pass from Brooke Ammerman to tie the game at one - and send the Engineers back to the penalty kill for another two minutes.

RPI killed the ensuing penalty and held off Wisconsin's pressure for the remainder of the period, which saw a an 18-7 advantage in shots for the Badgers - relatively even once RPI held off the first 10 shots in the game's opening minutes.

Wisconsin struck again near the midpoint of the second period, after several more minutes of solid play from the Engineers, when a faceoff win sprung Brooke Ammerman and Carolyne Prevost on a 2-on-1 for the Badgers. Prevost fed Ammerman with a quick pass for an easy tap-in past O'Brien - a shot which the RPI netminder never had a chance at stopping.

By this point in the game RPI had been shorthanded four times, but shortly after Wisconsin's second goal RPI finally got their first power play opportunity, and they made good on it. With Alev Kelter off for hooking, Jill Vandegrift picked up a rebound in front of Rigsby and put it home to tie the game at two.

RPI made it 2-for-2 on the power play later in the period when Andie Le Donne was tripped by UW's Stefanie McKeough. Smelker and Cox again broke in 2-on-1, and when the Wisconsin defender dropped to the ice to prevent the pass, smelker fired a laser past Rigsby to take a 3-2 lead, which the Engineers held into the intermission. RPI actually held a 13-11 shot advantage in the period, which was one of the best played by the Engineers this year.

If not for one bad minute in the third period, the Engineers had every chance to win the game. However, a pair of ill-advised penalties taken by RPI set them up to be shorthanded for most of the opening five minutes of the third, and Wisconsin made quick work of getting back on top, with a power play goal by Brianna Decker followed up by a quick Blayre Turnbull goal just 42 seconds later to flip the score from 3-2 to 4-3 in what seemed like an instant.

Despite RPI's efforts to tie the game back up, including two power play opportunities, Wisconsin's conditioning got the best of the Engineers, who were unable to mount any sustained pressure even during the man advantage, and Wisconsin took a little-too-close-for-comfort 4-3 win heading into Saturday's rematch.

Saturday

Cox/Smelker/Horton

Guillemette/Harrison/Vandegrift

Sanders/Mahoney/Svoboda

Letuligasenoa

Castignetti/Vadner

Schilter/Walsh

Le Donne/Marzario

Piper/O'Brien

Several of those in attendance for Friday's game looked at RPI's performance and predicted a much different flow to the game on Saturday; that RPI would not have as much left in the tank as Wisconsin and would face a much tougher game than they did on Friday. Those predictions turned out to be pretty accurate.

Despite another great effort from the Engineers, Wisconsin's top scorers were too much to contain, with the Badgers' top line combining for seven goals and 15 points en route to a 8-2 victory for the visitors.

The Badgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half of the opening frame, with Hilary Knight poking home a rebound and Brianna Decker picking up another from close range, beating Brianna Piper with a nifty move to double the lead.

RPI answered back with a power play goal on their first opportunity of the game, with Sierra Vadner sliding a shot in from the point which was tipped past Rigsby by Ali Svoboda. Wisconsin regained their two-goal lead before the period ended, on yet another play off a rebound, this time by Prevost.

The second period saw Wisconsin and RPI trade goals in the opening two minutes, with Brooke Ammerman scoring on the power play for the Badgers before Taylor Horton fed Eleeza Cox for a quick tap-in less than a minute later.

That would mark the end of the Engineers' scoring as Wisconsin never let up through the remainder of the game, picking up goals by Prevost and Brooke Ammerman later in the second, while Decker notched the Badgers' final two goals in the third period to complete her sixth career hat trick. Decker also saw her point-scoring streak extend to 24 straight games on Saturday.

After playing the first two periods, Piper was replaced in net by O'Brien for the third period. Although the numbers may not reflect it, both netminders played well on the weekend, with more than a few of Wisconsin's goals coming on tic-tac-toe passing plays that left the goalie no chance at making a save.

While the Engineers dropped both games, the level of play RPI brought to the ice this weekend beat anything seen thusfar in the season. Friday's game in particular was marked by extremely smart hockey - short shifts, a lot of blocked shots (20 to be exact), and good use of turnovers and mistakes by Wisconsin to create opportunities. If RPI can carry this weekend's level of play back into the remainder of the ECAC schedule, there's not a game on the schedule they wouldn't have a fair shot at winning. The key will be to see if the Engineers can bring their A-game when they're not playing the top-ranked team in the country.

RPI is home again next weekend for a non-conference pair against Syracuse before facing Clarkson and SLU on the road before the holiday break. The games against Syracuse are extremely winnable and would give the Engineers a chance to get some momentum going into the remainder of the ECAC schedule. With the men playing at RIT on Friday, the only potential radio coverage would be Saturday's game, although nothing has been confirmed by WRPI as of yet. As usual, video and live stats will be available from the RPI Athletics website, along with tweets from WaP at twitter.com/without_a_peer.

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RPI vs. Wisconsin

Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)

11/18/11 – 7:00pm

Wisconsin 4, RPI 3

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2011/11/18/wisconsin-vs-rensselaer/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1112/boxes/wrenwis1.n18

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.collegehockeystats.net/1112/boxes/wrenwis1.n18

Wisconsin: http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111811aaa.html

Video Highlights (no audio): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_rakImhUt0

RECORD: 3-8-4 (1-3-2 ECAC)

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RPI vs. Wisconsin

Non-Conference Game – Houston Field House (Troy, NY)

11/19/11 – 4:00pm

Wisconsin 8, RPI 2

BOX SCORES:

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/womens-hockey/2011/11/19/wisconsin-vs-rensselaer/

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1112/boxes/wrenwis1.n19

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2011/11/19/WICE_1119114243.aspx

Wisconsin: http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111911aaa.html

Video Highlights (no audio): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tolFHChov5E

RECORD: 3-9-4 (1-3-2 ECAC)

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Upcoming Games

Nov. 25 - Syracuse (7pm)

Nov. 26 - Syracuse (4pm)

Dec. 2 - at Clarkson (7pm)

Dec. 3 - at St. Lawrence (4pm)

Jan. 6 - Colgate (3pm)

Jan. 7 - Cornell (3pm)

To Be the Best...

...you've got to beat the best.

The likelihood of that actually happening this weekend seems fairly unlikely, but playing good teams is a strategy that frequently brings out the best against weaker teams down the road. Obviously, it's not foolproof, just ask the guys on the other side of the Field House how their tough schedule was.

If you've never been to a women's hockey game before, this weekend may or may not be a good chance to go see one. On one hand, you will get the opportunity to see the best team in the nation, the Wisconsin Badgers, defending national champions and winners of four of the last six national championships and the consensus #1. They are a team stocked with past, present, and future Olympians. They are rather good.

On the other hand, this same team skunked the Engineers 7-0 and 6-0 in Madison last season. The actual game s may not be very good.

If not for RPI's 5-0 pasting of Yale last weekend, it would seem that the overreaching task of scoring a goal against this team would be out of reach, because before that game the Engineers had been struggling to score. Now, at home, perhaps they can pick one up this year. Winning... well, that would be a pretty huge upset.

Here's this weekend's pumpup, which pretty well describes what RPI should be expecting. Content warning - the video has the singer in some semi-racy attire, but your mileage may vary.

2011-12 Women's Hockey Schedule

The women's schedule was released yesterday. Here it is in all its glory.

Of note, the national champions from Wisconsin will be coming into Troy in mid-November. There's not much reason to suspect that the games will be anything terribly different than they were in Madison last season, but... you never know, maybe we'll use some home cooking to get a goal or two, or shock the world. Regardless it should be a pretty good weekend to catch a game at the Field House.

The "series" with Syracuse, it appears, will continue for a third consecutive season, which is pretty nifty. A weekend with Niagara also appears on the schedule for a fourth straight year, while the Engineers head to Burlington this season in return for the Catamounts' appearance in Troy last year.

Friday games are at 7 p.m., Saturday games at 4 p.m. unless otherwise noted. ECAC league games have the little star next to them.

September

Fri. 23 - Toronto Aeros (Exhibition, Skate With The Engineers to follow)

Fri. 30 - at UConn

October

Sat. 1 - at UConn

Fri. 7 - at Vermont

Sat. 8 - at Vermont

Fri. 14 - at Niagara

Sat. 15 - at Niagara, 2 p.m.

Fri. 21 - Robert Morris (Homecoming)

Sat. 22 - Robert Morris (Homecoming)

Fri. 28 - Quinnipiac*, 3 p.m.

Sat. 29 - Princeton*, 3 p.m.

November

Fri. 4 - St. Lawrence*

Sat. 5 - Clarkson*

Fri. 11 - at Brown*

Sat. 12 - at Yale*

Fri. 18 - Wisconsin

Sat. 19 - Wisconsin

Fri. 25 - Syracuse

Sat. 26 - Syracuse

December

Fri. 2 - at Clarkson*

Sat. 3 - at St. Lawrence*

January

Fri. 6 - Colgate*, 3 p.m.

Sat. 7 - Cornell*, 3 p.m.

Fri. 13 - at Dartmouth*

Sat. 14 - at Harvard*

Fri. 20 - Yale*

Sat. 21 - Brown*

Fri. 27 - at Union*, 3 p.m.

Sat. 28 - Union, 3 p.m.

February

Fri. 3 - at Cornell*

Sat. 4 - at Colgate*

Fri. 10 - Harvard*

Sat. 11 - Dartmouth* (Senior Night)

Fri. 17 - at Princeton*

Sat. 18 - at Quinnipiac*

Fri. 24 - Sun. 26 - ECAC Quarterfinals (at higher seed, best of three)

March

Thu. 1 - ECAC Semifinals (at two highest remaining seeds)

Sat. 3 - ECAC Championship (at highest remaining seed)

Sat. 10 - NCAA Quarterfinals (at seeded teams)

Fri. 16 - NCAA Frozen Four (Duluth, MN)

Sun. 18 - NCAA Championship (Duluth, MN)

Women's Hockey - at Wisconsin (1/2 Oct)

We knew last week that the exhibition against Montreal would be no real indicator of what to expect from the Engineers this season, and the team received a reality check when they traveled to Madison, WI to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. The fifth-ranked Badgers made the most of their opening weekend, cruising to an easy pair of wins over RPI with consecutive 7-0 and 6-0 shutouts by two different goalies.

Friday

The first clue that it might be a long weekend for the Engineers came just 15 seconds into Friday’s game, when a defensive lapse led to Badgers Carolyne Prevost and Brianna Decker breaking in 2-on-0 against RPI goaltender Sonja van der Bliek. Van der Bliek didn’t have much of a chance as Decker fed Prevost for an easy tap-in to take a very early 1-0 lead.

Wisconsin picked up another pair of goals in the early going, increasing the lead to 3-0 on goals by Hilary Knight and Brittany Ammerman before the Engineers even recorded their first shot on the night. The Badgers’ first three goals came on just four shots, and it was clear that van der Bliek was going to have her hands full with Wisconsin skating around the RPI defense at will.

Coach Burke called his timeout after the third goal and the Engineers settled down through the middle of the first, but it was only a matter of time before Wisconsin found the twine again. Another pair of quick goals at 12:53 and 13:22 of the period would mark the end of van der Bliek’s night as she headed for the bench in favor of sophomore Shannon Ramelot, who held Wisconsin at bay until the middle of the second period, including during a trying penalty kill that carried from the end of the first into the early second period.

Prevost notched Wisconsin’s sixth goal, and the only in the second period, at 8:03, and the Engineers made some attempts to get into the game with minimal success. A bright spot in the game (and the weekend as a whole) was once again freshman Jordan Smelker, who had several good offensive opportunities for the Engineers in a pair of games where the vast majority of play was in the RPI end. RPI avoided going down 7-0 early in the third period when a Wisconsin goal was sent to the replay booth and waved off when the officials determined it had gone in off a Wisconsin skate.

It looked like 6-0 was going to be the final as play slowed down and got more physical in the third, but a shorthanded goal by Mallory Deluce made it 7-0 late in the period. After allowing an odd-man rush by the shorthanded Badgers (one of several in the game), Deluce took a cross-ice pass from recently-returned Olympian Kelly Nash to close out the scoring. Final shots ended up being 31-11 in Wisconsin’s favor – and to be honest, the game was more lopsided than that shot count would end up indicating.

It was certainly a rough night for van der Bliek, who allowed five goals on nine shots in her season debut, but Ramelot performed well in relief, making 20 stops on 22 shots through the latter two-thirds of the game. Wisconsin’s Becca Ruegsegger picked up the shutout with her 11-save effort, which saw her tested only a couple times over the course of the game.

Saturday

The teams returned to the ice on Saturday night for a rematch, with van der Bliek back in net for the Engineers while Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson gave freshman Alex Rigsby a chance between the pipes. RPI’s hopes of a drastically different result when hitting the ice on Saturday were quickly squashed when Hilary Knight scored for the Badgers just 33 seconds into the game, notching her first of five points on the night. It was a better first period for RPI than Friday however, with the Engineers holding the Badgers to two goals in the frame, the second also coming from Knight at 7:48 on a feed from Brittany Ammerman.

The second period marked the height of the physical play on the weekend, as both Wisconsin and RPI players played the body without repercussion – despite players on both teams getting leveled multiple times, there was not a single body checking penalty on the weekend. A fortunate gift for the Engineers, who could have fared much more poorly if not given the chance to slow down the faster Wisconsin skaters. Knight notched a pair of assists on two Wisconsin goals in the second, scored by Mallory Deluce and Brianna Decker. By the end of the second, Wisconsin was outshooting RPI 25-9.

The third period was marked by continued dominance by the Badgers, who picked up yet another pair of goals while allowing the Engineers no opportunities of substance. Saige Pacholok and Breann Frykas notched the Badger goals, while the Engineers could muster just one shot on goal in the final 20 minutes. Sonja van der Bliek spent the entire game in goal, allowing six goals on 31 shots to send her stats plummeting by the end of the weekend.

RPI hopes to recover next weekend with a pair of games at home against Vermont. UVM was picked to finish seventh out of Hockey East’s eight teams by conference coaches, but launched a strong comeback this weekend against McGill in an exhibition game to skate to a 2-2 tie. McGill played a couple strong games against Providence and St. Lawrence, so early indicators point toward Vermont not being a total pushover. Expect the Engineers to come out firing on all cylinders as they return to Houston Field House, looking to redeem themselves for this weekend’s losses. Game times are 7pm Friday and 4pm Saturday, and both games will be broadcast on WRPI, 91.5FM, www.wrpi.org, and we will have live tweets from the Field House right here at Without a Peer.

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RPI at #5 Wisconsin

Non-Conference Game – Kohl Center (Madison, WI)

10/1/10 – 8:07pm

UW 7, RPI 0

BOX SCORES:

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1011/boxes/wrenwis1.o01

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20101001&vis=rpi&home=wis&gender=w

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/10/1/WICE_1001100640.aspx

UW: http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100210aaa.html

RECORD: 0-1-0 (0-0-0 ECAC)

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RPI at #5 Wisconsin

Non-Conference Game – Kohl Center (Madison, WI)

10/2/10 – 8:07pm

UW 6, RPI 0

BOX SCORES:

College Hockey Stats: http://collegehockeystats.net/1011/boxes/wrenwis1.o02

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20101002&vis=rpi&home=wis&gender=w

RECAPS:

RPI: http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2010/10/2/WICE_1002103817.aspx

UW: http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100310aaa.html

USCHO: http://www.uscho.com/recaps/20102011/w/10/02/rpi-wis.php

RECORD: 0-2-0 (0-0-0 ECAC)

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Upcoming Games

Oct. 8 – Vermont (7pm)

Oct. 9 – Vermont (4pm)

Oct. 15 – New Hampshire (7pm)

Oct. 22 – at Providence (7pm)

Upcoming Podcast: David Kilfoil, Arlan Marttila

We're settling into a solid time for our podcasts - they're probably going to be Wednesdays at 8pm unless we need something different in a given week to accommodate our guests. This week will be at the new normal time of 8pm on Wednesday, September 29th.

This week, we have two featured guests from opposite ends of the college hockey continent. We'll be joined by The CIS Blog contributor David Kilfoil, who will clue us in on what to expect in the Engineers' exhibition game against the University of New Brunswick in a week's time, as well as give us a rundown of the hierarchy as it pertains to college hockey in Canada.

We'll also talk to Gopher Puck Live's Arlan Marttila. Arlan covers the Minnesota women's team for GPL and USCHO.com and is one of the finest sources for information about the wild wild west, where the Engineers head this coming weekend as they venture to Madison to take on the Badgers. Arlan will let us know what the expectations are for #5 Wisconsin, as well as give us the low down on the WCHA this season.

As always, you can surf on over to our Blog Talk Radio page for more information, and to sign up for a reminder email about our broadcast. Or, you can just click "Listen to Without a Peer" in the upper right hand corner.

The player below features our last podcast, with special guest John Burke.

Listen to internet radio with Without a Peer on Blog Talk Radio