June 8, 2011
First and foremost
Historic season for Union stemmed from depth, balance
by Staff Report/
By Phil Perry
It was a season of firsts for Union.
The Dutchmen set school records for overall wins (26) and conference wins (17) en route to the school's first ECAC regular-season title and first NCAA Division 1 tournament berth.
It was a season unlike any the school had ever seen. The Dutchmen started strong, and finished out the year expecting to win every time on the ice. In their final 16 games, Union went 14-1-1.
They did it all with balance. The offense was prolific. Union ranked seventh in the country (3.60 goals per game) and featured the best power play in Division 1, scoring on 29.5 percent of its chances.
For that, there were several underclassmen to thank. Freshman Daniel Carr scored 20 in 40 games, and he had 12 power-play goals, second most in the country. Sophomore Wayne Simpson put in nine on the advantage and sophomore Jeremy Welch put in eight.
Junior Kelly Zajac led the team in scoring with 42 points, which tied him for 34th in the country. He was the only Union player in the top 50 of the nation’s best scorers, proof of Union’s unselfishness and depth of talent.
The defense was stifling. It was ranked second in the country (2.10 goals per game) behind only Yale (2.06). And at this end of the ice, sophomore goalie Keith Kinkaid (Farmingville, N.Y.), was a first-team All-American. Only the second Union player to receive the honor, it was well deserved. He finished with a .920 save percentage and a school-record 1.99 goals-against average.
Kinkaid, who signed a contract with the New Jersey Devils in April, won’t be back. Neither will the school’s all-time leading scorer, senior Adam Presizniuk, nor coach Nate Leaman, who in late April was announced as the new coach at Providence. But six of the top seven scorers return, and five of those were either freshmen or sophomores this season.
Suffice it to say, the Dutchmen return enough firepower to have a real chance at making some of those “firsts” yearly occurrences.
Brown
The Good: Senior Harry Zolnierczyk took home Ivy League Player of the Year honors after leading the league with eight goals in league play and tying for first with 11 points. He is just the fourth player in school history to receive the award. The Bears also were the first team to beat then-No. 1 Yale, ending the Bulldogs’ 11-game win streak in January.
The Bad: Brown had trouble stopping opponents all season long. It finished last in ECAC, allowing 3.45 goals per game. One season after upsetting Yale in the ECAC tournament, the Bears were swept by Quinnipiac in the first round. They lost their two games by a combined score of 8-0.
The Future: Assistant captain Jack McClellan – who shared the team lead for points (31) with Zolnierczyk – will be back for his senior season. Freshman defenseman Dennis Robertson is poised for another big year after being named to the ECAC All-Rookie team and All-Ivy League second team.
Clarkson
The Good: Clarkson earned its first home ice advantage in the ECAC Hockey tournament since 2008 after going 9-12-1 in conference play. The Golden Knights’ biggest win came when goalie Paul Karpowich made 43 saves to beat 18th-ranked Dartmouth, 4-1, in the final weekend.
The Bad: The Golden Knights couldn’t keep themselves out of the penalty box. They racked up 660 penalty minutes – more than 100 minutes more than the next closest ECAC team, Cornell (557). Clarkson was also anemic on the power play, scoring on a league-worst 12 percent of its chances.
The Future: Clarkson made strides one year after finishing at the bottom of the conference, but there’s still plenty of room to grow – and it will be done under a new coach, after George Roll was dismissed in April. With good talent returning – Karpowich and assistant captain Jake Morley, among others – it could be on the right track.
Colgate
The Good: The 12th-seeded Raiders came from basement of ECAC Hockey to win two rounds of the conference tournament and make it to the semifinals in Atlantic City. First they eliminated RPI in double-overtime in Game 3 of their first-round series. Then, they took down the league’s top team, Union, in overtime in Game 3 of their quarterfinal series. The magic ended when they met Yale in the semifinals.
The Bad: For everything that was Colgate’s postseason run – unpredictable, dramatic, successful – its regular season was the opposite. It went 4-15-3 in the conference, which was easily the league’s worst record. Compared to other ECAC clubs, Colgate’s goals-against average was worse only than Brown’s, and its save percentage (.898) was tied for last in the conference.
The Future: Losing senior forward Brian Day hurts, but the Raiders have to garner some positive feelings for the 2011-12 season after their improbable postseason run. They seem to have found their goalie of the future in freshman Eric Mihalik. He became the first rookie ‘tender in school history to win two playoff series.
Cornell
The Good: The Big Red rode the strength of their defense to an appearance in the ECAC Hockey championship game against Yale. Cornell allowed just four goals in its final four games before the final. Its defense was strong during the regular season as well, allowing just 2.59 goals per game and placing ninth in the country in the penalty kill.
The Bad: The 6-0 defeat to Yale in the title game was an abrupt end to what had been a strong finish of the season.
The Future: With the graduation of Joe and Mike Devin, the Big Red lose a great deal of leadership – not to mention skill – at both ends of the ice. They do return both of their goaltenders, junior Mike Garman and freshman Andy Iles, who combined for a .921 save percentage this season.
Dartmouth
The Good: The Big Green made a big jump in the standings after last season, when they finished 10th in the conference. Junior goalie James Mello took his place between the pipes and helped carry Dartmouth to the semifinals. He finished sixth in the nation in save percentage (.926) and 12th in goals against (2.21).
The Bad: The Big Green fell to Yale in the conference semifinals, limping their way through to that point. Bob Gaudet’s boys lost five of their last eight before winning the third-place consolation game over Colgate, 5-3, and just missed out on an NCAA invite.
The Future: Dartmouth graduates half of its top 12 scorers, but Ivy League co-Rookie of the Year Matt Lindblad (28 points) and junior Doug Jones (29 points) return to give the team a solid 1-2 scoring punch. With Mello back as well, Dartmouth may be looking forward to a second-straight trip to Atlantic City in 2012.
Harvard
The Good: No one was hotter to finish the regular season than the Crimson. After beating Boston University in the Beanpot consolation game, something clicked and Harvard went unbeaten for nine straight games. Not bad for a team that finished 12-21-1 overall. They stayed hot, sweeping Clarkson at home in the first round of the league tournament.
The Bad: Harvard discovered quickly, you can’t win if you can’t score. It had trouble scoring most of the year, averaging an ECAC Hockey-worst 2.26 goals per game this season (2.23 per game in conference).
The Future: Sophomore defenseman Danny Biega is Harvard’s biggest returning piece. The team’s leading scorer and third in the lineage of Biega brothers to pass through Cambridge was an All-League second-team honoree after leading ECAC defensemen in points (21), goals (nine) and game-winning goals (three). If he can help the Crimson bottle whatever momentum they scrounged up at the end of this season, watch out.
Princeton
The Good: The Tigers finished in a three-way tie for fourth, but featured one of the most balanced teams in the country. They were top-25 n both goals (3.28) and goals against (2.75) per game. Freshman Sean Bonar was 10th in the country in goals-against average (2.20), and they had the ninth best power play in the nation without a single player in the top 30 in power-play goals.
The Bad: Princeton lost to No. 11 seed St. Lawrence in the first round of the ECAC tournament and lost seven of its last 11 games. Partly to blame? Their league-worst 74.2 percent penalty kill in conference play.
The Future: The loss of senior defenseman and captain Taylor Fedun should be eased as Derrick Pallis comes back for his senior year. The Tigers have ECAC co-Rookie of the Year forward Andrew Calof primed to take an even bigger role and their goalies – Bonar and sophomore Mike Condon – should only be better as they gain experience.
Quinnipiac
The Good: The Bobcats beat Brown in the first round of the ECAC playoffs, making them the only program to win a playoff series every year since 2005-06. They were also the best team in the conference at staying out of the penalty box, amassing just 235 minutes on the year.
The Bad: Jeremy Langlois, Quinnipiac’s top scorer in conference play, was only the 50th best scorer in conference action (13 points). Its offense was tied with Harvard for worst in the league in conference play (2.23 goals per game).
The Future: Quinnipiac loses just two seniors who scored goals this season to graduation. The team’s top seven scorers, including Langlois, Scott Zurivinski and Connor and Kellen Jones, will all be back to try to take the Bobcats past the second round of the ECAC tournament.
Rensselaer
The Good: Chase Polacek was recognized as the cream of the ECAC crop once again. He earned ECAC Player of the Year honors for the second year in a row after scoring 21 goals – including an NCAA-best nine game-winners – and tallying 27 assists. Defenseman Nick Bailen was named to the All-ECAC first team along with Polacek, while goalie Allen York received third-team honors.
The Bad: Though the Engineers’ season was good enough to get them into the NCAA tournament, they fell to No. 12 seed Colgate in the first round of the conference playoffs. They went just 3-3 against ECAC’s three worst teams (Harvard, St. Lawrence, Colgate) and they went 3-6 in games decided by one goal.
The Future: RPI loses its top two scorers in Polacek and senior Tyler Helfrich, but Bailen (36 points) will make his way back as a junior. York, a junior, signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets, likely leaving goaltending duties to sophomore Bruce Merriam.
St. Lawrence
The Good: The Saints shocked Princeton in the first round of the ECAC Hockey tournament, beating the Tigers in three games. Princeton was one of the league’s best power-play teams, but the Saints were the conference’s best penalty-killing group in league play (87.4 percent).
The Bad: The Saints finished ninth in the conference in scoring and 10th in team defense, allowing 3.14 goals per game.
The Future: A pair of returning underclassman forwards – freshman Greg Carey and sophomore Kyle Flanagan – combined for a total of 75 points. Carey was named to the ECAC All-Rookie team, leading the team with 23 goals. That tied him for 13th-most scores in the country and his 11 power play goals were sixth-best in the nation.
Union
The Good: The Dutchmen finished up their most successful season in school history by winning the ECAC regular-season title and earning their first berth in the NCAA tournament. Coach Nate Leaman was named Division 1 Coach of the Year after Union finished seventh in the country in team offense (3.60 goals per game) and second in team defense (2.10).
The Bad: Union ran into the buzzsaw that was Colgate during the second round of the ECAC tournament. Its offense fizzled in a 2-0 loss to Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAAs, and it’s also looking for a new coach after Leaman took a new job at Providence College.
The Future: Goalie Keith Kinkaid opted to sign with the New Jersey Devils in April, forgoing his junior and senior seasons, which means Union’s defense may suffer. Offensively, the return of freshman Daniel Carr and sophomore Wayne Simpson should allow the Dutchmen’s power play – ranked No. 1 in the nation (29.5 percent) – to remain a threat. Carr and Simpson combined for 21 power-play goals this season.
Yale
The Good: The Bulldogs were voted the No. 1 team in the country in both polls for the first time in school history. They won the ECAC Hockey tournament – another first -- and they returned to the NCAAs for the second consecutive year. The Bulldogs finished first in the country in team offense (4.19 goals per game) and team defense (2.06).
The Bad: Second leading scorer Brian O’Neill was sent off the ice with a game misconduct for a check to the head in the East Regional final against Minnesota-Duluth. Yale allowed two goals as it tried to kill the penalty and eventually lost for the second straight year in the regional final, 5-3.
The Future: Yale graduates five seniors who began pro careers soon after the season ended, but the Bulldogs return two first-team All-ECAC forwards in O’Neill and Andrew Miller, which should help it survive the offensive production leaving with seniors Broc Little, Chris Cahill and Denny Kearney.
Phil Perry can be reached at feedback@nyhockeyjournal.com.
ECAC HOCKEY PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Chase Polacek, sr., F., Rensselaer
Polacek scored 21 goals and made most of them count – his nine game-winners were the most in Division 1. A two-time ECAC Hockey Player of the Year, he’ll leave Troy, N.Y., after leading the Engineers into the NCAA tournament for the first time in 16 years. The 5-foot-8 sniper finished with 48 points this season – most in ECAC Hockey – some 160 for his career, and proof that size isn’t all that matters when it comes to finding the net.
