This is one of the days on the schedule I've had circled for about a month. To start the year, SLU looked great, and even found their way into the top 20. Now, they sit at 8-13-3, and welcome to Appleton the number one team in the ECAC, and the number 4 team in the country in Union. The Dutchmen are 16-5-3, 10-2-0 in the ECAC, losing to Colgate, who swept SLU, and Quinnipiac, who the Saints have not yet played. They are led by one of the premier defensemen in NCAA hockey, a Philadelphia Flyers draft pick, junior Shayne Gostisbehere, who has 18 points in 24 games from the blue line this year. Daniel Carr leads Union with 24 points this year.
However mismatched the teams may be on paper, SLU might have gotten very lucky with the timing of this game. Following the game between Union and RPI on Saturday, the two rivals engaged in a bit of line brawl. The result is that Union will enter Appleton on Friday without the guidance of head coach Rick Bennett, who was suspended for two games. Union also loses D Mat Bodie, who has 23 points, Daniel Ciampini, who has 19 points, and Eli Lichtenwald, who has 15 points. For a team that struggles on defense, this could be just the break the Saints need to be able to compete with Union. The Dutchman attack will still be lead by some great players, such as Kevin Sullivan, Mike Pontarelli, and Carr, but the secondary scoring won't be there as much for Union.
They key for this game will be Greg Carvel. He is a smart coach, and he won't have to work against Rick Bennett. His job, as the coach of the home team, which gets last change, will be to do his best to keep the Carey line away from Gostisbehere, and instead try and get the Doherty line, a solid defensive one, out. This leaves the Carey line with a favorable matchup, and could just give SLU the offensive edge.
All that means nothing if SLU can't keep the puck out of their net. No SLU goalie has good numbers this year, but Matt Weninger is the more experienced guy, having played against almost all of Union's players twice last year. So, as much as I have been calling for Parks to get more starts, I would anticipate Weninger to be the starter, and I think thats the right call. It all hinges on the defense, especially the top pair of Baker and Sweetman, who will play big time minutes against the top line of Union. If the defense can slow down, not even stop, just slow down those big three of Sullivan, Pontarelli, and Carr, SLU might just pull off the upset of the year in ECAC thus far.
Puck drops at 7:00.
However mismatched the teams may be on paper, SLU might have gotten very lucky with the timing of this game. Following the game between Union and RPI on Saturday, the two rivals engaged in a bit of line brawl. The result is that Union will enter Appleton on Friday without the guidance of head coach Rick Bennett, who was suspended for two games. Union also loses D Mat Bodie, who has 23 points, Daniel Ciampini, who has 19 points, and Eli Lichtenwald, who has 15 points. For a team that struggles on defense, this could be just the break the Saints need to be able to compete with Union. The Dutchman attack will still be lead by some great players, such as Kevin Sullivan, Mike Pontarelli, and Carr, but the secondary scoring won't be there as much for Union.
They key for this game will be Greg Carvel. He is a smart coach, and he won't have to work against Rick Bennett. His job, as the coach of the home team, which gets last change, will be to do his best to keep the Carey line away from Gostisbehere, and instead try and get the Doherty line, a solid defensive one, out. This leaves the Carey line with a favorable matchup, and could just give SLU the offensive edge.
All that means nothing if SLU can't keep the puck out of their net. No SLU goalie has good numbers this year, but Matt Weninger is the more experienced guy, having played against almost all of Union's players twice last year. So, as much as I have been calling for Parks to get more starts, I would anticipate Weninger to be the starter, and I think thats the right call. It all hinges on the defense, especially the top pair of Baker and Sweetman, who will play big time minutes against the top line of Union. If the defense can slow down, not even stop, just slow down those big three of Sullivan, Pontarelli, and Carr, SLU might just pull off the upset of the year in ECAC thus far.
Puck drops at 7:00.
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