Taking In The Action

I already don't like Josh Gratton.

Since I am no longer professionally responsible for college hockey, I decided to check out the Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday night, driving out to Hartford to see my friends Hugh Jessiman and Mike Ouellette. The Pack beat Norfolk, 6-2, in a game that saw both Dartmouth alumni record an assist each.

Gratton got on my bad side with a really ugly boarding call early in the second period, the kind of hit, head first into the boards, that there's really no place for in hockey. Naturally, he was challenged to a fight all of five seconds after he got out of the box, and David Koci scored a pretty decisive win in that bout. Myself, I just sat back down and said, "Well, he had that coming."

Other observations:

I think it's horribly cruel what happens with visiting goaltenders in Hartford. Apparently, there's no room for them on the bench, so Norfolk's backup watched the game from a folding chair set up just outside the tunnel. Why is this cruel, you ask? Because loudmouths like me - and yes, I am a loudmouth when I go to a game as a fan - can chirp at the poor backup sieve the entire game. I didn't have too much to say to Jonathan Boutin, but I said enough that he turned around and stared at me.

Mike Ouellette will play in the NHL before he's done. He's not going to be a big numbers guy, but he's going to be a good role player for someone. The role he was in on Friday was largely a defensive one. He was Hartford's go-to guy on faceoffs in the defensive zone, and he was absolutely money on those faceoffs. The assist wasn't particularly notable - Mike's ontact with the puck came back in the defensive zone - but killing penalties and winning faceoffs in the defensive zone are skills that you can take anywhere.

Jessiman looked good as well, although he did wind up a -1 on the evening for being on the ice during Rob Klikhammer's goal. He was comfortable in the Wolf Pack power play unit, which is where he contributed his assist. He's maturing nicely, and I think he'll compete for a spot on the Rangers next season.

Always nice to hear Kevin Nash's shoutout of "WOLFPACK IN DA HOUSE!" That brings back memories...

Moving on...last night, I headed up to West Point for Army's game against Sacred Heart. I recapped the game for USCHO, and you can read that here.

If Army wins the conference tournament - hardly a given with RIT, Sacred Heart, and Air Force in the mix - Michigan will have one hell of a time with the Black Knights in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Atlantic Hockey has abeen a very tough out in the NCAA tournament in recent years, generally speaking.

2005: BC 6, Mercyhurst 5
2006: Well...you know.
2007: Minnesota 4, Air Force 3

Army will be in that mold if given the opportunity. Mark my words. The Black Knights check like the dickens, and I mean forechecking and backchecking. Their puck pursuit is relentless, and Army makes it nearly impossible to complete a pass cleanly.

The big problem for Army is that the Black Knight power play is one of the least efficient in the country, and special teams are such a key in playoff hockey. What Army does have, however, is a great top line, with Bryce Hollweg (yes, that's Ryan's little brother, or as I call him, "Little Hollywood"), centering Owen Meyer and Luke Flicek. That line has 40 of Army's 90 goals this year, and their chemistry will serve them well in the postseason.

In my first year at CSTV, I interviewed the five new D-I head coaches before the season: Dave Hakstol, Ted Donato, Guy Gadowsky, Tavis MacMillan and Brian Riley. When I wrote my article on Riley, one of my superiors at the time asked me what the heck he was doing at Army, having been successful as a head coach at Shattuck-St. Mary's.

The answer, by the way, is that Brian cares deeply about West Point. Obviously, he's the third Riley to be the head coach of the Black Knights after his older brother Rob and their legendary father, Jack (who was in attendance last night), and this is the job he wants. He's won the Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year award twice in a row, and he's earned it. I know I've said this before, but what you have at West Point is a world-class coach working with some of the most coachable and hardest working student-athletes you will find. The combination has been more and more successful each year, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of these guys next weekend, as I'll be covering their first-round playoff series against American International.

Oh, and I'd like to expand on my previous comments on at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. This isn't just Minnesota. It's Wisconsin, Minnesota-Duluth, and - in all likelihood - St. Cloud. I may need to think about this one a bit more, given that Wisconsin is one game under .500 with five ties, but generally speaking, I think that you should need a .500 record or better in conference play to make the NCAA tournament. For the record, taking out the three teams with sub-.500 records at the moment would put Providence, Notre Dame and Princeton in the tournament, and simply based on what the teams have done this season, I would much rather see those three teams make the tournament than a sub-.500 WCHA team.

Speaking of Notre Dame, SportsCenter had a great feature on Christian Hanson this morning. It's always great to see college hockey get that kind of airtime when it isn't the NCAA tournament or the Beanpot.

OK, that's it for now...time to get set to head for the Island, where Tanner Glass and the Panthers are in town. Hey, the man got me a job interview...you think I'm not going to go see him?