Conroy Returns to Calgary

Former Clarkson Golden Knight Craig Conroy was traded by the Los Angeles Kings to the Calgary Flames earlier this evening for Jamie Lundmark and two draft picks. Conroy returns to a Calgary team that he once captained. He also helped lead the Flames to to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2004. We wouldn't be surprised to see him in a line with Jerome Iginla whom have been a productive tandem in the past.

NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge

Clarkson's Mike Sullivan and Lindsay Williams are both eligible for the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge that will occur in St. Louis. Sullivan and Williams survived the first cut from 189 players down to 88. Fan voting is going on right now, and the results will be taken into consideration by the selection committee in determining the final 32 spots (16 from the West and 16 from the East.) Be sure to head over and vote!

Gutcheck

Clarkson defeats Crimson
4-2
Knights move into second place tie with Quinnipiac

10:00 PM
Matt Beca's beautiful one time shot off a Shawn Weller pass beat Harvard netminder Kyle Richter and gave the Knights their first lead of the weekend at the 18:36 of the third period tonight at Cheel. To this point Clarkson had scrapped their way to a 2-2 tie with goals from D'Alvise and Sullivan. Clarkson came out of the gate sluggish and could not find a rhythm for most of the game. Combine this with injuries to Phil Paquet and Nick Dodge, and Clarkson could have settled for another tie. I think we saw that this team can dig down and find another level when they need to this weekend. Which is the hallmark of a good team.

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6:24 PM
Clarkson looks to take three of four points on the weekend against Harvard at Cheel. Last night the Knights never lead the contest but salvaged a tie against Dartmouth as Nick Dodge scored twice in the the final five minutes to erase a 2 goal deficit. This was the first time in 13 games the Knights surrendered over 2 goals.

Weekend Preview

At the halfway point of the league schedule the Golden Knights have to be pleased with the results. Clarkson has taken at least one point from seven of the eleven other teams in the league and has swept the season series with St. Lawrence At 7-3-2 in the conference and in third place the Knights are just one point out of second and three points out of first. Third place is not where this teams wants to be, and the time is now to make a move to the top of the league and send a message to the rest of the ECAC and the country that the Golden Knights are worthy of the ranking and hype. Harvard and Dartmouth make the long North Country trip to take on what should be a very determined Clarkson squad, and that should make for some great hockey.

Dartmouth comes to Cheel on the heels of a three game winning streak. Granted, these three wins were against Atlantic Hockey teams, but they should not be discounted as we have seen what Sacred Heart and Holy Cross can do to teams who are not prepared. Clarkson, however, is not Sacred Heart and the Big Green can not expect to surrender three goals in a period and get out with a win in Potsdam.

The last time these two teams met up there were 31 penalties and 24 powerplays. The officials in the league have seem to taken their foot off the pedal a bit in calling every penalty so I doubt we will see the parade to the box like we did in November. Clarkson's powerplay has cooled off since December but the Knights are still clicking at 22% on the man advantage. Dartmouth has a solid penalty kill but a dismal powerplay, expect the Knights to try and sneak a shorty past the Big Green as the did in November.

I expect Clarkson to come out fast this game and look to get a quick lead. If Dartmouth can hang on for the first period they should be able to keep it close for the rest of the game. If things start bad for the Big Green, they will end bad. In the end Clarkson is just too much for Dartmouth to contain.

Clarkson 4 - Dartmouth 1

Harvard has not played a game in nearly a month. Any guesses at what to expect would really not be educated. Some might say this blog is not educated, but that is a debate for the summer. The strongest advantage for Clarkson is the fact that Harvard is playing SLU first, and the Saints are going to come out mad. Mad at a mid week loss and mad at a Harvard team that has not been kind to the Saints in the past year. My estimation is that SLU is going to get physical with the Crimson in what will be a close game. Harvard will need all of their conditioning training to pay off against Clarkson but I just can not see Harvard lasting to the third.

Clarkson 5 - Harvard 2

Was that 6 unanswered goals?

I'd like to say a few words about last night's game, but the Bonesaw Brigade have already said it.

BONESAW!

GAMEDAY @ SLU

Brett got a chance to talk with Coach Roll yesterday, here are some of the highlights:

CHF: Give us your take on the past weekend at RPI and Union.

Roll: I thought we played well for six periods of hockey. We got off to a rough start at RPI but even then we didn't give up any grade A chances. We got up then gave up one but got it back on a beautiful goal by Steve Zalewski. I felt it was a very nice road win.

The next night we didn't finish our grade A chances, but overall we were pleased with our effort, just not the end result.

CHF: After playing a rival and with SLU coming in Tuesday, Union was a classic trap game. Was the team looking past Union at all?

Roll: Absolutely not. We did not look past them, they are a good team and we just didn't finish our chances. To say that they didn't put the effort in would be incorrect. Union is a good team, I can't stress that enough. Fox is a great player and we saw the goal on the tape today. It was a really good goal that beat us. We we're pleased with our effort, just not our result.

CHF: Looking ahead to SLU, what do you expect from the Saints on Tuesday?

Roll: They are probably the hardest working team in the league, and playing some of their best hockey right now. They are ultra aggressive on the forecheck and we need to stay out of the box and keep it it five on five.

We know this is a huge game in the standings for us to get back in the hunt for the league championship. Appelton is a tough building to play in and it should be an awesome college hockey atmosphere. We need to ride that emotion and try to jump out early.

CHF: What's the status of Shea Guthrie? Will he play?

Roll: We're hopeful that Shea can return to the lineup, but we wont know for sure until we get a look at him on the ice today.

CHF: Looking ahead you have six of you next ten games at home, do you see this as an advantage?

Roll: Right now we haven't been great at home, so I really don't see an advantage playing at home. I think we're at a point we're it really doesn't matter where we play. You obviously want to win at home but we've had some of our best games on the road this year.

CHF: Right now you're getting most of your production from you junior class, would you like to see anyone else step up and start scoring?

Roll: Right now we are really committed to team defense. We know we're going to score goals and it's just a matter of time. Mike Sullivan has really elevated his game since Christmas but has nothing to show for it. I think D'Alvise has also played some of his best hockey since the break but has little to show on the score sheet. But the team has really come together defensively and they are putting the team ahead of individual stats right now.

CHF: In this last stretch the team hasn't given up more than two goals in any game, what do you attribute this to?

Roll: I keep going back to St. Cloud, and that's when it really took hold. We were trying to win every game 8-7 or 6-5 and when we ran into St. Cloud we realized that we could not play that style of hockey. We made some changes and our practice style carried over to games.

CHF: Have you ever had a team play like this before, with a strong commitment to defense?

Roll: Yeah, in Oswego during our NCAA run they played with a real team commitment to defense. I can say it enough, I was pleased with our effort Saturday night. The 2-1 loss in overtime, that's hockey. But I felt we played our game and I'm not gonna fault anyone for the loss.

CHF: Do you keep tabs on the PWR or any national rankings?

Roll: No. We haven't changed our approach, we are concerned right now with St. Lawrence tomorrow. We got a little caught up in it when we started out 6-1-1, then we lost four straight. It is our goal to make the NCAA tournament, but we aren't concerned with were we stand right now. There's too much hockey left to play.

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Clarkson looks to sweep Saints for the first time since 1998.

Stay tuned for updates throughout the day.

Clarkson @ Union

1-2
Final
CLITSOME
Union snaps unbeaten streak at 10.
Clarkson answers on a 5 on 3 of their own to start the second period.
Clarkson comes out undisciplined, Union scores first on a 5 on 3.

Clarkson @ RPI

4-1
DODGE WELLER ZALEWSKI and BECA

Roll's first win over RPI
Dodge and Weller draw first blood in the second period. 17 seconds apart in the second period.
Leggio solid with 30 saves.
Zalewski scores on a break to end the second, Beca tallies on the empty net.
Clarkson looks to extend unbeaten streak tomorrow at Union.


Guthrie out for weekend with viral infection.

New lineup for the night:

Cayer Dodge Sullivan
Weller Zalewski Beca
Willemsen D'Alvise Rutherglen
Marks Kolu Tuttle

Clitsome Paquet
Mason Grenzy
Bellows Curley

Leggio

Weekend Preview

After two ties last weekend, assistant coach Greg Drechsel had this to say about the two ties,

"We are happy with the effort, but we are not very satisfied getting two ties. We have an expectation level where we believe we will win our games at home. We played hard in both games. The difference was on specialty teams. We did not capitalize on the power-play chances we had. It was the first time in a long stretch where we did not score a power-play goal, and that was the difference in each game."

The effort was indeed present at Cheel Arena, but the wins were not. Clarkson came away with two points and stayed in a tie for fourth in the league standings. If this happens this weekend the quotes from the coaches might be very different.

The Golden Knights head to the Capital District looking to exorcise some demons. Last year the trip was an absolute disaster for Clarkson. A 5-0 loss to Union and a 4-3 loss to RPI in which the Knights gave up 4 second period goals. The two losses sparked a streak in which the Knights lost 7 of 8 and put a sever damper on what was shaping up to be a good season. Remarkably the Knights are in a similar position this year. Riding a 9 game unbeaten streak Clarkson is coming in looking to continue their winning ways. However, if Clarkson comes in with a chip on their shoulder they could be in some trouble.

RPI comes into tonight's game on a bit of a rough patch. After starting out 4-1-2, the Engineers have posted a disappointing 2-9-3 record including an 1-5-0 skid in their last six games. If RPI fans can take any solace it is in the fact the last game for RPI was a 3-2 win at Union. Defensively RPI has struggled this year allowing 3 or more goals in 16 of their 22 games. If there was cure for the offensive slump Clarkson is in, the RPI defense just might be it. This will be the crux of the contest. Can Clarkson find the scoring touch against a sub-par defense? If they can this game will not be pretty for RPI. I'll say Clarkson does find the scoring touch but it will take a period to get going.

Clarkson 5 - RPI 1

Saturday night Clarkson heads over to Schenectady to take on the Union College Dutchmen. Clarkson has it's fair share of problems at Messa Rink but Union has been an on again, off again team. Last weekend they split a pair against RPI winning in Troy and losing at home. The previous weekend they split a pair at home against Dartmouth and Harvard. Playing a cohesive game against Dartmouth for a 4-1 win, then wilting and falling to Harvard late and falling 3-2.

This will be a test of the other point coach Drechsel mentioned, special teams. Union is middle of the pack in penalty kill and power play. It will be up to the team to use their top ranked special teams to defeat the Dutchmen. Union has cut down on the penalty minutes this year, but the Clarkson games usually bring out the worst in the Dutchmen, and for that matter the Knights too. Clarkson will look to stay disciplined and complete what many fans are hoping for, a four point weekend.

Clarkson 4 - Union 1

There's lots of rumors, on the internets...

Word on the web is that Shea Guthrie has an illness and will not play this weekend. I'm giving this rumor a 50/50 shot of becoming truth.

Also here are some search parameters that led one RPI student to this blog:

Google, where rivalries live.

Fit To Be Tied

Much like the previous evening against Colgate, Clarkson found itself playing an extra five minutes. Much like the previous evening the Golden Knights jumped out to a first period lead but could not hold on and had to settle for a tie. Chris D'Alvise scored toward the end of the first period and Mitch Carefoot answered in second period. David Leggio made 26 saves and Troy Davenport ended up with 21 saves. The Knights are now 13-5-3 overall and 5-2-2 in the league tied with Cornell for fourth with 12 points. Clarkson travels to Albany next weekend to take on RPI and Union.

Colgate and Comments

Two goals bookended a goaltending duel last night at Cheel. Steve Zalewski scored in the first minute then David Leggio and Mark Dekanich took over keeping the score 1-0 until the 14:46 mark of the third period when Jason Williams tallied his third goal of the year to tie the game. In over time Clarkson outshot Colgate 5-1 but Dekanich was too much and both teams took a point. Overall Dekanich made 28 saves and David Leggio made 21.

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It was brought to my attention last night that people have been making comments but we were not addressing them. This was a major error on our part and the comments are back and have been posted for the past 8 months or so. Please feel free to leave comments and we will stay on top of them as best as possible.

The Blogosphere's First Textcast!

Ron: Should we do a back and forth chat preview today?

Brett: Sure. I'm kind of nervous about tonight to tell the truth.

Ron: So why are you nervous about tonight? I actually haven't been feeling this good about this series in years.

Brett: Colgate plays us tough, and with Dodge out I'm worried about a flat effort which would really be the opposite of what should happen.

Ron: Well, the last I checked Colgate has a losing record, and only has one victory over a team with a winning record, and that was Niagara the third game of the season. Niagara just took them out last Friday. This is a game Clarkson should win unless they pack it in before they even hit the ice. More importantly, what happened to Colgate this year? How do you go from pre-season #1 to where they are now?

Brett: Records don't mean much when the puck drops. I think a lot of it falls on the defense, Dekanich had a great year last year but he cooled off and the defense has given up 30 shots a game, 35 in league play

Ron: Do you think Vaughn will run out Kowalkoski or Long this weekend?

Brett: Nope, Colgate needs the points, and these are two top teams in the league right now. Dekanich will start both nights.

Ron: Well, this is one of those games that I think Clarkson will make a blow-out, or end up losing by a goal. I was thinking to myself this morning on the walk to the train, that these guys will likely be looking to make a statement after this series and the playoffs last year. Before this year, people would say that Clarkson would need to give 100% effort and get some bounces, maybe have the goalie stand on his head. I think now all they need is 100% effort.

Brett: Good point, we know the offense is there, but it will be the team commitment to defense that will win games from here on out. we dont need to see another Quinnipiac, Princeton weekend. I think they learned a lot from that weekend.

Ron: I think the coaches did too and have found the right ways to motivate the team

Brett: So despite their record Colgate has outscored their opponents 62-59 this year, and has eight players with double digit point totals. They just are streaky.

Ron: Yeah, but look at the schedule.

Brett: They seem to either score in bunches or not at all.

Ron: This is true. So how about Cornell. Are we going to thrash them, or are they going to come out firing. Losses to Wayne State and Sacred Heart don't bode well. We expected them to be hurting this year after the mass departures, but I didn't think it would be this bad.

Brett: They aren't going to thrash them. Cornell knows how to play Clarkson. It will be a good game, and Clarkson will get a chance to show off the full arsenal so to speak.

Ron: But this obviously isn't the same Clarkson they've seen the last couple of years. I reject your blanket statement,.

Brett: So you're saying Cornell doesn't know how to play Clarkson?

Ron: No I'm saying teams change from year to year. It's like saying the Red Sox know how to play the Yankees despite the fact both teams have entirely new starting pitching.

Brett: The Red Sox know how to play the Yankees?

Ron: Clarkson is suddenly defined as a run and gun offense. Last year they weren't even in the Top 20 in team offense. This year they're averaging four goals a game. It's quite a change, and just as I wouldn't suspect the same Cornell team to step out onto the ice, they can't step out and expect the same Clarkson team. The buckle down defense is obsolete.

I hate to be cliche, but the key to Cornell's chances is for them to stay out of the box. Clarkson is now 2nd in the country in the PP behind Maine. When you're converting 25% of your PP opportunities, you're in good shape. Same for Colgate actually. They spend 22 minutes in the box a game.

Brett: Who says run and gun anymore? When did Gerry Glanville start coaching hockey?

Ron: Wasn't he the coach of the (Bentley) Falcons?

Brett: Cornell does have the leagues best defense but the goaltending is suspect.

Ron: Actually Brown has the league's best defense? At least as a total package. And I consider the goalie part of the D.

Brett:

• 1 Cornell 2.38
  
• 3 Brown 2.50

Ron: Wow, did I just say Brown has the league's best defense?

Brett: They don't.

Ron: Are you talking league or NCAA?

Brett: League

Ron: My mistake. I was looking at the NCAAHL. So who steps up to the plate with Dodge out?

Brett: Gotta be Weller Zalewski Beca

Ron: Any particular reason?

Brett: Best line on the ice, Beca is due for a big night, Zalewski is the teams best faceoff man next to dodge and Weller is 3-1-4 in the last 3, 4-2-6 if you count the exhibition

Ron: Are you concerned about Leggio taking the weekend off against McGill?

Brett: Not really. Goalies get fatigued and backups need to see some ice just in case. Leggio will be ready to go. With the way the defense has been in front of him I'm not too concerned about the layoff.

Ron: Are the students back yet? Do they realize how big this series is? I haven't heard much.

Brett: Classes started Thursday. I don't think you need to tell them to go to the games, student section has been the only full section all year.

Ron: Yeah, but when classes started on Thursday, I showed up on Monday.

Brett: I showed up the following Thursday.

Brett: Any thoughts on the other league match ups?

Brett: Quinnipaic / Princeton @ Brown / Yale and the RPI-Union home and home.

Ron: I dunno, just looking at the schedule, the entire slate seems to be Clarkson's to lose.

Brett: You're really flying high on confidence this morning...

Ron: I am. I am. It's not woofing, it's just this team is a very strong team, with losses to only a few stronger teams like St. Cloud who is red-hot. There are talented teams in the ECAC, but when everything is clicking, the only thing that can kill you is luck, lack of effort, or insane efforts by other teams, and lack of effort is usually the big one.

Brett: I never called it woofing, I'm just not ready to buy the farm yet.

Ron: I saw you walking around the place, checking it out.

Brett: Yeah, but your soil pH is way too low.

Ron: But yeah, so I'm pretty confident. I haven't felt this confident since 98-99 so that says a lot.

We were talking about this the other day. Any chance you think we'll see anyone leave from this squad like a Cole or Mitchell?

Brett: I'd like to think no one will leave, but that's up to the player. If Weller and Zalewski keep their play at the level they have been at they could be looking at offers, but I hope they realize that getting a degree is more valuable in the long term then the money up front

Ron: I agree. This team certainly has the chemistry together. Talent right now is borderline for the jump, although I was blown away by the number of players that signed pro deals last off-season.

Brett: I think there are only 1 or 2 players like Matt Carle, who just got recalled to Sharks by the way, while there are 100's of Hugh Jessemans out there. Staying that fourth year can be a real investment, and I hope they all realize that

Ron: Trevelyan being a prime example of how that's slowly but surely paying off for him.

Ron: How's Scott Freeman doing these days?

Brett: 25G-54A

Ron: Did he get tired?

Brett: Must have... 2.25 PPG. Freeman and Rufenach were the only two recruits listed on central scoutings draft list.

Any predicitions for the games?

Ron: Clarkson 4, Colgate 2

Ron: Clarkson 3, Cornell 1 (ENG)

Ron: I know I said the Cornell game could be a blow out, but then again. It is Cornell.

Ron: So lets just say I'll do a little jig if it's a blowout.

Brett: As long as you jig in private.

Chat with George Roll

George Roll had an interview with CSTV today and took some interesting questions from around the country. Here are some of the highlights

• Nick Dodge's one game suspension will stand and he will not dress for Friday's game.
• This weekend's series is big for all four teams. But there are plenty of games left on the schedule.
• The four game losing streak showed the team how much work it takes to win games.
• Clarkson will begin a two year commitment with Colorado College next year and will host St. Cloud next year.
• Roll "learned a lot" from last year's series at Cornell, and is "a better coach for it."

Clarkson takes on the Raiders of Colgate and the Cornell Big Red this weekend as the Knights return to ECAC league play.

A Tune Up

The Golden Knights face off against McGill tomorrow night. (Or Western Ontario depending which schedule you look at.) Regardless of foe, the game is an exhibition and Clarkson will look to improve their play from the last exhibition which ended in a less than stellar loss to the USA Under 18 team. The differences between Clarkson now and Clarkson then are numerous. First and foremost the Knights current commitment to defense has lead the Knights on a seven game winning streak. In those the seven games the team has surrendered nine goals while scoring twenty seven. In the six games before the USA exhibition the team had scored twenty eight goals but gave up fifteen. The game against the Under 18 team really exposed some serious flaws on defense which have been corrected.

Starting in net in October was Matt Smith, a freshman goalie who had yet to see live action. Smith had a bad first period and never saw the ice again. Smith left the University and was replaced by Tim Potter, a goaltender from the Oswego OPJHL team. This would not be a bad time to see what Potter can do, but the question lies with George Roll on to how much tinkering is needed with a team that is playing it's best hockey?

This question will dictate the line combinations this weekend. With things clicking along, do you risk breaking up chemistry and change lines or do you let things continue on course and come out with what we have seen for the past two months? Personally I would not expect any changes, but I'm not a hockey coach. Despite that fact I do know that two of the biggest games loom large on the schedule in the following weekend as Colgate and Cornell come into town, and that taking four points with the team that we have grown accustom to seeing would be a major statement and make a serious impact in Clarkson's first round bye and league title hopes.

A quick glance at McGill's schedule shows they have faced two ECAC schools in Yale and Princeton back in October. McGill lost to Princeton 3-2 in OT and defeated Yale 3-1.