Hello, my friends. Happy game day! Hockey game day, that is. (Although I hear some other sport is in action today as well.) The No. 7 Buckeye women are still on break but the Buckeye men return to action this week against an improved Niagara team.
| Game Info | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|
| Opening Faceoff | 7pm ET | 8pm ET |
| Television | None | None |
| Radio | None | None |
| Online Video | BTN Plus ($) | BTN Plus ($) |
The first half of the season a mixed bag for Ohio State. The Bucks had some sharp, dazzling victories and some flat, poorly executed losses. The team did not seem to make much linear progress but rather looped through cycles of stellar and lackluster play.
Still, despite its overall inconsistency, the team managed to finish the first half with a 10-4-4 record and the program’s first ever sweep of Minnesota. The fifth ranked OSU defense stole the show its final series, holding the No. 7 Gophers to a single goal in each game. The strength of that performance and the Bucks’ current status as the “best of the rest” in a strong Big Ten boosted the team into the No. 9 spot in both national polls.
| Team Stats | Niagara | Ohio State |
|---|---|---|
| Records | 9-7-1, 8-4-1 AHC | 10-4-4, 5-4-1-0 B1G |
| National Polls | Receiving votes | No. 9 / No. 9 |
| Avg. Goals For / Against | 3.12 / 3.41 | 2.72 / 2.11 |
| Power Play / Penalty Kill | 21.7% / 87.2% | 15.1% / 92.8% |
| Points Leader | Derian Plouffe (21) | Tanner Laczynski (23) |
| Top Goaltender | Brian Wilson (2.67/.901) | Sean Romeo (1.93/.928) |
The Buckeyes begin their second half campaign with a home series against Niagara. The Bucks and Purple Eagles played a pair of games in New York last season. Ohio State soundly thumped Niagara by final scores of 10-2 and 6-2.
But this is a different Purple Eagles team. After consecutive last place conference finishes, Niagara gave long-time head coach Dave Burkholder his walking papers. The team hired former OSU assistant Jason Lammers (2006-09) to replace Burkholder. Lammers has turned things around more swiftly than anyone expected.
| Big Ten Standings | Gms | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Notre Dame | 10 | 30 |
| No. 9 Ohio State | 10 | 16 |
| No. 15 Penn State | 10 | 15 |
| No. 10 Minnesota | 12 | 14 |
| No. 13 Wisconsin | 10 | 13 |
| RV Michigan | 10 | 12 |
| Michigan State | 10 | 8 |
The most optimistic pundits predicted some moral victories for Niagara this season. Most forecast another year in the AHC’s cellar. Yet, at the midseason break the Purple Eagles sit second in their conference with an 8-4-1 record. They even cracked the top 20 in early December, though they dropped back out of the polls after being swept by conference-leading Canisius in their first half finale.
Niagara’s success is driven largely by three point-per-game players, veteran forwards Derian Plouffe (1.24) and Tanner Lomsnes (1.00) and sophomore defenseman Noah Delmas (1.12). Plouffe ranks among the top 20 scorers in the NCAA. He comes into this week’s series on a seven game point streak. Lomsnes is tied for seventh best goal scorer in the country with 12 tallies on the year. Delmas is tied for the national lead in points by a blue liner.
The Purple Eagles have a fresh outlook on life and absolutely nothing to lose this season. They have given some good teams a difficult time. Niagara held third period leads against current No. 5 Cornell and No. 20 Canisius before being overcome in the late stages of the games.
I have a suspicious feeling about this series. The week after the break is upset season. I’d like to think the Minnesota series was the beginning of the end of the Bucks’ inconsistency. But until they string two good weekends together I remain skeptical. Hopeful, but skeptical. I suspect this series will be a split (unless Sean Romeo rises to the occasion and saves OSU’s bacon).
Not Appearing This Week
Ohio State will skate this series without the supervision of associate coach Steve Miller. The Buckeye boss is in Buffalo with Team USA’s World Juniors crew. The Americans are attempting to repeat last year’s gold medal performance, which also had Miller behind the team’s bench.
Niagara will be without the services of Tyler Hayes this week. The sophomore defenseman was suspended for the entire series following Atlantic Hockey's review of his spearing penalty against Canisius. Hayes has skated in six games this season and is yet to contribute a point.
