Happy gameday, puck enthusiasts! Congratulations on either surviving the shopping crowds or having the good sense not to go near a store today. Here is what's happening on the ice this weekend.
Men
After opening Big Ten play last week with a split against Michigan State, Ohio State heads to South Bend to compete in Notre Dame's Shillelagh Tournament. Western Michigan and Union also join the fray. It's a CCHA reunion of sorts. The Buckeyes, Broncos, and Irish all contended in the old conference.
| shillelagh teams | nd | un | osu | wmu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Polls | RV | 17 | n/a | n/a |
| Overall Record | 6-6-2 | 6-5-1 | 4-7-1 | 3-8-1 |
| Avg Goals Scored | 2.79 (27th) | 3.42 (10th) | 2.33 (T-36th) | 2.33 (T-36th) |
| Avg Goals Allowed | 2.64 (32nd) | 2.42 (T-24th) | 2.75 (36th) | 2.92 (40th) |
| Power Play | 7.3% (57th) | 20.4% (17th) | 14.9% (T-33rd) | 19.6 (23rd) |
| Penalty Kill | 84.5% (T-28th) | 78% (T-46th) | 82.9% (34th) | 81.1% (40th) |
Of these four teams Union is probably the tournament favorite. The Dutchmen have been ranked as high as No. 2 this season. They also have two players, senior Daniel Ciampini (6-10--16) and sophomore Mike Vecchione (6-10--16), tied for eighth nationally in point scoring.
But Union has struggled of late. The team is just 1-5-1 in its last seven outings. The Dutchmen snapped a six game winless skid last week with a decisive 6-1 victory over Princeton.
Notre Dame runs a close second as tourney favorite. The Irish claim a statistical leader as well. Junior Mario Lucia's nine goals put him in a tie for the NCAA's fourth best goal scorer. November was no kinder to ND than it was to Union. The Irish managed a single victory this month, an OT win over Merrimack.
Underwhelming as the favorites are, Western Michigan and Ohio State are still solidly in the underdog category. They've faced some tough teams and played well on occasion, but neither has strung together enough good games to frighten opposing teams.
The Broncos and Buckeyes have faced several common opponents this season. Both teams tangled with Canisius, Nebraska-Omaha, and Miami. OSU scored a few more goals along the way but the teams' results were much the same. WMU went 1-5-0 and OSU was 1-4-1.
This is about as winable as a tournament could get for Ohio State at this point. Two fundamentally sound games could be all it takes to emerge victorious. I'm not saying the Buckeyes will definitely walk away with all the shillelaghs. Consecutive quality games haven't been their strong suit this season. It is possible, though.
OSU faces Western in the tournament's opening game. That battle is set for a 4pm faceoff today. Tomorrow's start time will depend on today's outcome. The Bucks will either face Union at 4pm or Notre Dame at 7:30 pm. (I guess it was more important to have the home team featured in the primetime game than to follow standard consolation-before-championship procedure.)
It's a holiday weekend so coverage is pretty sparse. None of the games are televised and there aren't any Buckeye-centric radio broadcasts. The good news is both afternoon games of the tournament will be streamed online free of charge by WatchND. The evening games (i.e. all games featuring the Irish) stream through NBCSports.com.
Big Ten Update
It was Splitsville at Yost last week. Penn State won Friday's tilt and Michigan took the victory on Saturday. In non-B1G action Wisconsin's struggles continued as the Badgers lost both games of their Colorado swing. They are now 0-8-0 on the season. Minnesota was downed by the US Under-18 squad in an exhibition match. That's three straight winless outings for the Gophers.
| rk | big ten standings | w | l | t | sow | pts | this week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | vs RPI (nc) | |
| Michigan State | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | at Princeton (nc) | |
| Ohio State | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | at W. Michigan and No.17 Union/Notre Dame (nc) | |
| Penn State | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | vs Cornell (nc) | |
| 3 | Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | at No.12 Boston College and Northeastern (nc) |
| Wisconsin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | vs Ferris State (nc) |
Women
The Buckeye ladies work off their turkey hangovers this week with a single game against Robert Morris. Ohio State enters the series off a shootout win and loss at North Dakota. The Bucks have established themselves as a dangerous team to overlook in the WCHA. However, the team still has some work to do if it's to be considered as a serious contender in the conference's second tier.
(For those not familiar with women's hockey, the WCHA goes pretty much like this: Minnesota and Wisconsin, then two or three good teams with a decent shot at a top-10 ranking, a couple teams that are ok, a couple of teams that are not good but still have five wins in non-conference play.)
| osu | rmu | |
|---|---|---|
| n/a | National Polls | n/a |
| 7-7-1 | Overall Record | 4-9-3 |
| 2.07 (23rd) | Avg Goals Scored | 1.81 (27th) |
| 2.40 (15th) | Avg Goals Allowed | 3.06 (25th) |
| 9% (32nd) | Power Play | 15.8% (20th) |
| 82% (21st) | Penalty Kill | 85.3% (17th) |
Ohio State has had some good results this season, but the wins haven't always been pretty. Special teams, getting a lead, holding a lead, etc. the lady Bucks have some aspects of their game that could stand some sharpening up. They'll have an opportunity to do just that against RMU tonight.
The Colonials don't have a particularly sexy resume. They have a victory over Northeastern to their credit, which isn't too shabby. Their remaining three wins have come against Colgate, Maine, and Lindenwood, teams that aren't exactly setting the world on fire this year.
The Buckeyes have a big series against Minnesota-Duluth looming next week, but they need to give Robert Morris their full attention tonight. Game time is slated for a 7pm. The Colonials have links to live stats and streaming video on their schedule page. I would imagine you can get updates on the Twitter as well.
| rk | wcha standings | w | l | t | sow | pts | this week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Wisconsin | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 34 | at New Hampshire (nc) |
| 2 | Minnesota | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 29 | at Princeton (nc) |
| 8/9 | Minnesota-Duluth | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17 | at Bemidji State |
| Ohio State | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17 | at Robert Morris (nc) | |
| RV | North Dakota | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 15 | at St. Cloud |
| 9/10 | Bemidji State | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | vs Minnesota-Duluth |
| St. Cloud | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 8 | vs North Dakota | |
| Minnesota State | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Bye |
