Week 5: Games To Watch Around College Hockey

Story posted November 6, 2015 in CommRadio by Tom Shively

A month into the NCAA men’s hockey season, teams are starting to separate themselves from the pack.  Although the schedule only holds two ranked matchups for this weekend, there is still potential for plenty of excitement on the ice.

No. 12 Yale vs. No. 7 Harvard

The nation’s most historic collegiate rivalry steps out of the classroom and onto the ice for this weekend’s game in Cambridge. Both teams will be playing on only their second weekend of the season as both had the first three weeks off. Yale comes off of strong performances against Princeton and UMass in which six different players contributed to a nine goal tally in those two games. The Crimson looked even better, notching 12 goals in two consecutive shutouts over Dartmouth. This will be the first meeting between the two Ivy League institutions since Harvard’s double-overtime victory last year in the ECAC quarterfinals, denying Yale a bid to the NCAA tournament. Several All-Americans will be in action in this game as Jimmy Vesey, the nation’s top-ranked player, leads his Harvard teammates and fellow NHL draft picks Kyle Criscuolo and Alexander Kerfoot against the top goalie in the country, Yale’s Alex Lyon.

Minnesota vs No. 18 Notre Dame

The Fighting Irish welcome perennial power Minnesota to South Bend for a pair of weekend games after going 2-0-2 during a four game road stint. Notre Dame makes its first appearance in the USCHO poll this week as it will attempt to improve on a recent surge. Minnesota, after dropping the first three contests of the season, had a strong showing two weeks ago in a series sweep over Northeastern.  The Gophers were off last week. Minnesota’s offense has struggled mightily thus far, averaging only 1.8 goals per game which is good for 54th in the nation. They haven’t been much better on the power play, scoring only twice in 22 chances, 52nd in the nation. Notre Dame has had no problem killing the penalty, as they have done so on the last 21 opponent power plays. Twenty-one NHL draft picks between the two teams will be on display in this series including Notre Dame senior forward Mario Lucia, who takes the ice against his father and Minnesota head coach Don Lucia for the fourth consecutive year.

No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth vs. No. 8 Nebraska-Omaha

Top ten teams square off for a pair of games in Omaha this weekend as Minnesota-Duluth makes its NCHC debut. The Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth started the season ranked second but have tallied only three wins in their first seven games after a split last weekend against UMass-Lowell. Omaha, after a hot start, comes off a tough series against Western Michigan, dropping both contests on the road to fall to 6-2-0 on the season. Minnesota-Duluth will be playing without senior center and leading scorer Tony Cameranesi, who suffered an upper-body injury last weekend. Family ties seem to be the theme this week as defenseman Willie Corrin of Minnesota-Duluth matches up against his uncle, Omaha head coach Dean Blais. These two schools will be meeting for the 22nd and 23rd times overall with Minnesota-Duluth holding the all-time lead 12-7-2.

 

Tom Shively is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. You can contact him at shivelyt97@gmail.com