Weekend Recap vs. Princeton

The Bobcats swept travel partner Princeton this past weekend (tumblr)

By: Mark Pierson

The Quinnipiac Bobcats and Princeton Tigers faced off for a weekend home and home series starting Friday night at the Bank in a game televised on NESN.

The announced crowd of 3,237 wouldn’t have to wait long as Jeremy Langlois stole a puck from a Princeton defender down low at 5:34 and skated in alone on Tiger netminder Mike Condon, depositing the puck in the back of the net. With just under a minute left in the first, Russell Goodman would shoot through traffic from the slot and put another past Condon giving the Bobcats a 2-0 lead in a period where they limited the Tigers to 5 shots.

In the second we saw another potent display from the Quinnipiac defense, limiting Princeton to only 2 shots in a period where the Bobcats were in the box 3 times. To say to PK is potent would be an understatement. However, one of those shots was able to pinball off a couple of bodies, Hartzell’s upper arm, and the far post to pull the Tigers within one at 2-1, keeping them in a game that was a lot closer on the scoreboard than it was on the ice.

Just over 4 minutes into the third, Tiger James Kerr crushed Zach Tolkinen along the far side boards and was sent to the showers putting Quinnipiac on a 5 minute all-you-can-eat power play. Unfortunately, the weakest part of Quinnipiac’s game continued to struggle and Princeton was able to kill off the major. Less than a minute after the teams returned to full strength, Jordan Samuels-Thomas was whistled for interference giving the Tigers a man-advantage and the opportunity to seize the momentum. Luckily, the strongest part of Quinnipiac’s game, the nation’s 3rd-best penalty kill, was up to the task and ket Princeton from capitalizing.

Continue reading on FTNTTB.

ECAC Power Rankings (Week 5)

Rankings compiled by Luke Devoe

Here is the fifth installment of FTNTTB's ECAC Power Rankings. The rankings will appear each week on the blog. Ten ECAC sportswriters have taken part in the rankings this week and teams have been rated on a 1-12 point scale. If you are interested in sending in your rankings for future weeks tweet me @QUHockeyBlog by Tuesday of the week of the poll. We will aim to get the rankings posted Wednesday of each week.

No rationale this week due to time constraints, but needless to say after a 6-0-0 league start, ECAC writers are very high on the Bobcats. Cornell seems to be sneaking back into relevance and Yale is primed to make the Whitney War a thing to see this season!

First place votes in parenthesis
1.) Quinnipiac- 119 points (9) Highest/Lowest Ranking 1/2

2.) Dartmouth- 105 points (1) Highest/Lowest Ranking 1/4

3.) Yale- 100 points Highest/Lowest Ranking 2/4

Check out the complete rankings on FTNTTB.

Umass & Weekend Recap

(CHN)

By Mark Pierson

QUINNIPIAC 4, UNION 0 & QUINNIPIAC 3, RPI 1
Capital District Sweep On Friday November 30th, Quinnipiac traveled to Schenectady, NY to face the #8 ranked Union Dutchmen. The 1st period saw long stretches of fast-paced back and forth action, a total of 23 shots on net (11 for Q, 12 for U), and even a few power plays, yet remained scoreless. The first couple of minutes of the 2nd looked like it would be more of the same. 

However, at the 3:20 mark Union's Daniel Ciampini took a ill-advised cross checking penalty that seemed to put the Dutchmen back on their heels. The momentum shifted to the Bobcats even though they couldn't convert on the power play. 

Quinnipiac took over and were dictating play all over the ice. Finally at the 15:21 mark, Jeremy Langlois lit the lamp with the 50th goal of his career. He is one of only 2 active D-I players with 50 and becomes the 10th D-I Bobcat to do so. The goal came on a nice feed from behind that net that was one-timed by Troy Grosenick. 

Less than 2 minutes later, Travis St. Denis would take a Langlois rebound and bury it for a 2-0 Quinnipiac lead heading into the intermission. It was a period dominated by the Bobcats who limited Union to a total of 5 shots while putting up 15 of their own.

Read the entire recap on FTNTTB.

A QU Road Trip: Providence

Providence's Schneider Arena (Stadium Journey)

By: Mark Pierson

A Tuesday night non-conference matchup had me driving 101 miles to Schneider Arena, the 3,030 seat home of the Providence College Friars. Traveling alone to an away game for the first time I didn't bother looking for an interesting place to eat or any other local attractions, instead opting for a quick pregame burger and fries (I know, I lead such an exciting life). 

 Arriving at the rink about an hour and a half before game time allowed me to see the Bobcats warming up out on PC's baseball field... in the dark! It was... different... to say the least, but allowed me to see them from a different perspective than usual. 

 About an hour before faceoff I headed inside and was surprised to see quite a few QU fans and several parents and relatives. I chatted briefly with Jeremy Langlois' father, Bill (who I actually met last year up at Dartmouth), and met Eric Hartzell's mom and dad, Mary Beth and Kevin. There was a large contingent of the Federico family and a couple of other families as well. All in all, the Bobcats had somewhere between 100 and 200 fans in the barn.

Continue reading on FTNTTB.

QU's Weekend Recap (November 18, 2012)

JST had 2 goals and an assist over the weekend (QU Chronicle) 

By: Luke Devoe

All is well in Bobcat land. After losing in the Cape and dropping an ugly affair to AIC at home, the Bobcats have run off four straight where it means the most, in the ECAC. The boys have seemed to click. Some of the new pieces are now understanding how they fit and most importantly Eric Hartzell has been excellent when he's needed to be. This weekend they took the long seven hour drive up to North Country and came away with a convincing sweep, outscoring their opponents 11-4 in the two wins. The only other season the Bobcats swept the road trip up north was 2008-09, a year when those same Saints knocked the Bobcats out in the ECAC quarters. Last weekend's wins over Colgate and Cornell showed us that the Bobcats were not the team who we saw lose to an inferior opponent in AIC or show up without a pulse in Cape Cod. This weekend, we were shown a team that is a force to be reckoned with. No other team in the league has had the start the Bobcats have had in conference games. The Q came into this season with a lot of hype. After four league games they appear to be living up to it.

Now for this weekend... In both games this weekend the Bobcats were able to jump out on top of their opponent and never let them back in it. With first period goals from sophomore Matthew Peca, his third and junior Jordan Samuels-Thomas, his second, the Bobcats would carry a 2-0 lead into the first intermission up at Cheel Friday night. Shortly after Clarkson's Nik Pokulok gave the Knights some hope, senior Zach Davies sent what would be the game winner on net, notching his first goal of the season and the Bobcats' first power play goal of the night.

Continue reading on FTNTTB.

FTNTTB's Weekend Recap

(QU Barnacle)

By: Ben Rego

The Bobcats finished the weekend with two wins and their first four point weekend of the season. This was a big weekend for the Bobcats because it was their first two conference games of the season and they came away with the best case scenario. Quinnipiac gave their fans two great games with an exciting overtime win on Friday and a HUGE win over #4 Cornell on Saturday.

In game one of the weekend, the Bobcats took on the Red Raiders of Colgate. The first period started off slow until senior forward Russell Goodman got a rebound off the end boards and took it to the house putting the Cats up 1-0. This was Goodman's first action since the Cape and he played huge all weekend. It wasn't long before Colgate would respond by ripping a shot from the point that would beat the screened Eric Hartzell over his shoulder. With 8:55 left in the first, Hartzell would give up almost the same exact goal as Colgate launched a shot from the point that once again beat the screened Hartzell giving Colgate two goals on 3 shots. This would be the first time all year that Quinnipiac would allow a opponent to score on the powerplay. Quinnipiac still leads the nation with a 97.4% penalty kill (37-38).

In the second period the Bobcats skated out with an intensity that I haven't seen all year. I don't know what speech Rand gave during the intermission but it definitely pumped them up for the rest of the game. With 2:50 left in the second, Loren Barron stationed in his signature powerplay point position, would find the twine on a beautiful one timer giving the Bobcats their first power play goal of the season, tying the game at 2. QU's defense was playing great all night and by the end of the second period, they had only allowed 8 shots to go on Hartzell.

Continue reading Ben's recap at FTNTTB.

Off the Record with Luke Devoe

By: Luke Devoe

Cory Hibbeler

When I last left you we didn't quite know who our Bobcats were but I think we're a little closer to figuring it out. A solid three point non conference weekend against a mid level Ohio State team coupled with a magnified two game losing streak which including what has to be the worst loss in the program's history had many fans doubting this year's Bobcats heading into Friday's tilt with Colgate. How could you blame them? The boys stunk for those two games, there's no denying that. They went up to Hyannis, got bullied, bruised and beat down only to return home after a ten day layoff and lay the biggest of eggs against a team that hasn't had double digit wins in a season since 2003. They played uninspired, allowed a should be blow out to turn into an embarrassment in a game that felt like an exhibition. No one showed up with the exception of maybe Jeremy Langlois who's been one of the only constants this season. I was especially underwhelmed, up until last night, with the play of "stud" transfer Jordan Samuels-Thomas. He seemed to have a Bryan Leitch way about him, rarely mixing it up, lolly-gagging and basket hanging. But it wasn't just his uninspired play that had many calling erroneous on this year's prognosticators that had the Bobcats finishing in the top four. Even with the Ohio State weekend and a win up at Maine (which now means nothing as the Black Bears have fallen to 1-9), there still seemed to be something missing with this team. There was a lack of flow. The loss of Connor didn't help but even when he was out there it quickly turned into a Keystone Cops routine with the Joneses and Matthew Peca crashing into each other more than the opposition.

Keep reading on FTNTTB.

FTNTTB Opponent Preview: AIC

By: Luke Devoe

Who: American International College (2-3-0)
What: A Division I Men's Ice Hockey Game
Where: The Bank
When: Tuesday, November 6th, 7 p.m.
Why: Because we have to.

The (3-2-1) Bobcats take to the ice after a brief hiatus following the disastrous, debacle inHyannis. I'm a poet and I did, in fact, know it. The boys return home after dropping a 5-1 non conference tilt in the Cape Cod Classic to league foe Colgate. They take on a team that they are fairly familiar with, the American International College Yellow Jackets of Atlantic Hockey. Since the 2006-07 season, the year the Bobcats were no longer conference mates with AIC, the Q is 4-0 against the Yellow Jackets outscoring the Springfield, MA natives 20-6 in those wins. They haven't played since December of 2009 when the Bobcats overwhelmed the Jackets 5-2. Dating back to when they were conference foes the Bobcats are 15-2-1 against AIC and haven't lost since 2004.

Read the entire preview on FTNTTB.

A QU Road Trip: Cape Cod Classic

By: Mark Pierson

The Colgate Raiders have been hosting the Cape Cod Classic at the Hyannis Youth & Community Center for the past couple of years against the Army Black Knights. This year, due to a scheduling conflict with West Point, they invited the Bobcats for a non-conference tilt, so I packed an overnight bag and set out on the three hour trip to the Cape.

While close enough to do in a day, it was decided to book a room and enjoy the off-season ambiance of Cape Cod sandwiched around a hockey game. So the Days Inn on Rt 132 is where I stayed. As I pulled into the parking lot early Saturday afternoon I spotted a familiar looking big red Dattco bus. Yes, the team traveled up on Friday afternoon and spent the night in my hotel. As I walked into the lobby to check in, there was a poster in the window advertising the game (I swear I took a picture of it but, alas, I can’t find it on my phone).

As I later drove around town on my way to an early dinner I noticed several more of these posters in storefronts. Apparently hockey is pretty popular on the Cape. Who knew? I won’t go into specifics on my restaurant choice since the Cape has too many to choose from. All I’ll say is that seafood was in order, and it was delicious! Time for some hockey… I left the hotel and headed towards the HYCC, which is only 1-1/2 miles from the Days Inn. It’s very easy to find and seems to have ample parking for its 2 NHL-sized rinks plus other amenities. As I pulled into the lot there were dozens of young kids coming out front doors toting hockey gear, evidence that youth hockey is alive and well on the Cape.

Inside, off the rather spacious TD Bank lobby is a pro shop, a community police office, a spacious gymnasium, and a full service snack bar with a rather complete offering. Since I had just eaten a rather healthy portion of shrimp, the pretzels and popcorn weren’t getting much of my attention. During the first intermission a youngster in front of me was putting away a cheeseburger and fries that smelled terrific. The main rinks bench seating holds 1600. The second rink has an advertised capacity of 275. As popular as the facility is it seems odd that it wasn’t built with more seating, but then again it is a community rink with all the associated budgetary constraints.

 

The rink itself was bright with a low hanging ceiling and a large scoreboard on the left end and a smaller one in the far right corner. There is no formal press box so the intrepid QU announcers were seated at a folding table up on the small center ice concourse. Everyone warned me that the rink was chilly inside, but I found no worse than anywhere else. In fact, I didn’t think it was as cold as the Bank.

The team benches are on the opposite side of the ice with the scorer’s table and penalty boxes between them. Tunnels to the locker rooms are located at each blue line under the bleachers. The only negative I saw (besides the small number of seats) was that safety netting is hung completely around the spectator area above the glass. Personally I don’t like watching through the netting but I can understand it’s done that way to keep the fans safe.

Read more about Mark's trip on FTNTTB.

Video of the Week: 2008 Colgate-QU Fight

Colgate and Quinnipiac have been two of the feistier teams in the league over the past few seasons. This video from 2008 is just an example of it.

The Raiders and Bobcats faceoff this weekend in Cape Cod.
 

QU's Weekend Recap: Ohio State

By: Ben Rego

Student turnout was great on Fri., not so much on Sat.

This weekend we finally saw our first winning weekend at the Bank this year! The Bobcats skated against a very tough future Big 10 team in Ohio State and came away from the weekend with a win and a tie putting them at 3-1-1 on the season. Eric Hartzell looked like a man possessed this weekend allowing only 2 goals on 45 shots. Matthew Peca found his groove this weekend scoring two goals (one in each game) and Jeremy Langlois also put the biscuit in the basket twice in game two.

The boys came out strong this weekend against a very good Buckeye team and Hartzell let them know early that finding the back of the net would be harder than finding a diamond in a snow storm.

Game one of the weekend fight would start off with the Bobcats dominating the play but not seeing any results for it. That was until Sophomore Matthew Peca launched a twisted wrister past Buckeye goalie Brady Hjelle and the Cats found themselves with some momentum to skate with. With 9:05 left in the 3rd period the Q would lose that momentum when OSU forward Tyler Lundey would throw a pass from the boards in front to fellow forward Matt Johnson who would pull out the pitching wedge and chip one past Hartzell to knot the game at one goal apiece. Q would add some pressure in overtime and dominate in the OSU zone but it was not enough to have everyone hopping over the bench in excitement. Although both teams "kissed their sisters" in this bout, the Bobcats had the advantage all night and it seemed that would be carried over into game two on Saturday.

Continue reading the recap on FTNTTB.

FTNTTB Opponent Preview: Ohio State

By: Luke Devoe

Ohio State Buckeyes (1-1-0)

The Ohio State University comes calling this weekend in a series that usually adds a little buzz to the sometimes subdued Bank crowd. Any time a big name university with a known name pops its head in the Bank's doors people tend to perk up. The Buckeyes come in at 1-1 after splitting a tough opening weekend at #13 Minnesota-Duluth. Losing to the Bulldogs 6-2 on opening night before topping them 3-2 to even the score. The Buckeyes of the CCHA, have split with our Bobcats each of the last two seasons. Last year in Columbus, the Bobcats opened with a 2-1 loss to the Bucks to win the following night by a 4-3 margin. In Hamden the previous year, Quinnipiac took a 2-1 victory from Ohio State to lose the following night 4-0. If this history holds up, the Bobcats are in good shape to win the Friday night matchup. In 2009-10, the Bobcats went out to Columbus to open the season and shocked the Buckeyes sweeping the series 4-2 and 3-1. The teams only met one time prior to those meetings with Ohio State winning 1-0 back in 2004. Quinnipiac owns the slight edge leading the lifetime series 4-3.

Cory Hibbeler and Clay Harvey in Columbus last season

Last season the Buckeyes were the definition of mediocre coming in at 15-15-5 on the season. They actually have a very Bobcat-like season losing 11 of their final 12 after starting off like gang busters. They've returned almost all of their offensive production losing only senior forward Danny Dries (13/9/22) and senior defenseman Sean Duddy (1/13/14). However, it's another story in net. Senior and crease mainstay in Columbus Cal Heeter has moved on causing the Buckeyes to work between senior and life long back up Brady Hjelle and freshman Collin Olson. Olson was able to notch their first win of the year over Duluth turning away 26 of 28 shots while senior Hjelle struggled allowing six goals on 39 shots in the 6-2 opening night loss. It'll be interesting to see who third year coach Mark Osiecki opts to go to this weekend. My guess would be a combination of the two. While the Buckeyes don't have any stand out talent or All Americans on the roster they return solid forwards in the forms of junior Chris Crane, sophomore Ryan Dzingel and sophomore Max McCormick. The Buckeyes have some serious size with six players towering in at 6'3 or taller but factoring in the Hilbrich-curve, the Bobcats are very even in size with the Bucks. Last season the Buckeyes had one of the nation's worst power plays at 17.6% and mid tier penalty kill at 83%.

Read the entire preview on FTNTTB.

Weekend Recap: Another Split

via QU Chronicle

By: Ben Rego

Another weekend down and again it's a bittersweet one for the Quinnipiac Bobcats Men's Ice Hockey team. Heading into the weekend ranked as the 18th team in the nation the Bobcats once again skated to the beat of the same drum as last week as they won the first game of the weekend and would end up losing the second game. The good news for the weekend is that the line of St. Denis, JST, and Langlois continued their early season success and the bad news is that it seems like the top line of Peca and the Joneses are still in a slump. We witnessed the first goalie pull of the season when Rand took out senior goalie Eric Hartzell and replaced him with freshmen Michael Garteig. Let's not forget the excellent early season play of sophomore Danny Federico who could quite possibly cement a spot on a top defensive pairing this year. The Bobcats are now 2-1 on the season and hopefully they can start adding more to the win column.

The first game of the weekend started off slow as both teams skated to a 0-0 tie after the first period. Quinnipiac had some solid scoring opportunities on both power plays they had in the first period however the puck stayed out and we were on to the second period. With 10:58 to go in the second period the Bobcats struck first as senior Russell Goodman redirected a shot from Loren Barron at the point. It wouldn't be long for the Cats to strike again as assistant captain Cory Hibbeler stuck a fork in a bouncing puck and roofed it past RMU goalie Levine giving the Bobcats some insurance heading into the third period.

In the third period, I witnessed one of the greatest shots I've ever seen in my life. Senior defensemen Loren Barron brought the puck down into the right side of the offensive zone and flicked a wrist shot that was so pretty it had seniors at Hamden High nominating it for Prom Queen. The vulcanized rubber would go over Levine's left shoulder in a key hole sized gap and the Bobcats skated to a 3-0 lead with 15 minutes remaining. Minutes later Clay Harvey would hook up Jeremy Langlois for a short handed goal delicately sending the puck on net with enough time for Langer to push it past Levine. That would prove to be enough goals for the Bobcats as they won 4-0. Hartzell would head home for the night with his first shutout of the year after facing 16 shots. The Bobcats picked up the pace immensely towards the end of the first and kept it rolling throughout the game and left fans with a smile on their faces.

Read the rest of the recap on FTNTTB.

Off the Record with Luke Devoe

via ECAC Hockey

By: Luke Devoe

Your weekend recap will be forthcoming from our newest, cutest, little blogger Ben Rego but prepare yourself for a bi-weekly segment that is sure to rock your world. Off the Record is something I will post on the blog every two weeks taking a look at our Bobcats' performance over the two weekends being covered, as well as anything else I'd like to discuss while I'm up on my soapbox.

First off, not a bad way to start the year. The Cats head to Orono, Maine, might as well be Mars for this Hamdenite, and take a huge opening night win away from the vaunted Hockey East New Englanders. In this win, we got a chance to see the highly discussed transfer Jordan Samuels-Thomas net his first goal as a Bobcat in the most dramatic of fashion. We are also given a glimpse into what freshman newcomer Travis St. Denis can bring as he netted our first and his first goals of the year. We also saw a team, though ugly at first, weather an opening night storm in the first period in a hostile environment playing against a team that seemed to want to hit anything that moved. Though we were outshot by a large margin and thoroughly outplayed, this spoke more to me than if we came out and squeaked a goal or two in early. This can be attributed to our veteran leadership. There's a buttload of seniors on this team and while some will play more than others, this will not be a team to cower in the face of competition. On opening night, we were led by senior goalie Eric Hartzell. Hartzy was excellent and settled in nicely after allowing an early goal. Hartzell is our goalie this year and despite being yanked in game two against Bobby Mo, (more on this later), our season relies on him being a top flight goalie in the ECAC. He was this and more on opening night turning away 31 of 32 Black Bear shots.

I won't go into great detail on Sunday's exhibition 2-0 loss to Acadia because it is and forever will be a non-factor game. Rand got to see his freshmen and seldom used upper classmen while resting some regulars. Acadia played like it was the gold medal game against a Gunner Staal led Iceland squad and came away with the victory over a QU team whose lines looked as if they were picked by the kids who wait by the tunnel to get a broken stick. Captain Zack Currie said all the right things after the game about not being ready and not using the bus trip as an excuse and even went as far to say "we're not 40 years old," but the fact is the game didn't matter, the result didn't matter and anyone who claims it did needs to wear a helmet in public.

So they have a week off and plenty of time to prepare for a Robert Morris team who returns some top scorers, a senior goalie but also adds plenty of new faces to the mix as well. The Bobcats eventually got it going in game one on Saturday and asserted their dominance in route to a 4-0 victory. Some Bobby Mo folks were calling "not fair" after the Colonials' 8 hour bus ride but at the end of the day the Bobcats wiped the floor with the Colonials in a game that had it been closer may have set up the Bobcats for more success on Sunday. In the win, we saw excellent efforts from blue color guys like assistant captain Cory Hibbeler, seldom great but often very good Russell Goodman and Bryce Van Brabant, who just seems to hit anything with a pulse. We saw Mike Dalhuisen mix it up in a hand shake line that should have never been and goalie Eric Hartzell turn away 16 in a shutout effort. It was the kind of game that showed the separation between the Q and a mid-level Atlantic Hockey squad. Defensively the Bobcats looks downright impenetrable. The three Zach/k's (Davies, Tolkinen, Currie) are all playing at the top of their game. Loren Barron is still smoothly doing his thing and Danny Federico has settled nicely in as a #5 D. Even Dalhuisen, who has shown his mental makeup can be questioned, played exception at times and finished as a +3 for the game. Sunday was a different story.

Check out the rest what what Luke has to say on FTNTTB.

Quinnipiac's Weekend Recap

The weekend was a bittersweet one for the Bobcats as they recorded a landmark program victory winning Saturday night in Orono against the #15 Maine Black Bears only to fall Sunday at the Bank jn an exhibition tilt against the Acadia University Axemen. But we'll start with the positive. The Bobcats are currently ranked 18th in the nation after skating to a 2-1 win over the Maine Black Bears. The Cats skated up to Alfond Arena where they have never left with a good taste in their mouth or a win under their belts. In 3 games up at Alfond Arena, the Bobcats were outscored 17-1. However, those gaudy numbers did not intimidate the Bobcats and they left the arena with their heads held high and their first ever win against Maine.

Eric Hartzell at Maine

The game started off sloppy like any game between two teams who haven't had more than two weekly hours of practice time leading up to Saturday, the first official day teams could practice. Maine was able to notch the first goal of the season when freshman Steven Swavely connected from his brother Jon. For the rest of the first the teams sort of felt each other out with Maine dictating play. The Bobcats were getting it taken to them both physically and offensively as the puck rarely left the Bobcats zone. The Black Bears would outshoot the Q 12-3 in the first period. Pecknold rallied his troops and the Bobcats came out a new team in the second, outshooting the Black Bears 11-10 and notching their first goal of the season only two minutes in when, on a dynamic move to the net, senior Jeremy Langlois guided a puck off of goalie Dan Sullivan right to the waiting stick of freshman Travis St. Denis. The new kid would tap it home and tie up the game, hushing 4,000 plus Black Bear faithful. Midway through the second Maine stud and all-everything winger Joey Diamond hit an awkwardly turning Mike Dalhuisen in the corner sending Dalsy to the ice apparently in pain. Diamond was assessed a game misconduct and sent off. The play was borderline but a scary one for the Q fans in attendance as Dalhuisen laid on the ice writhing in pain. He would return to action, possibly selling the hit more than anything else. The third was much like the first dictated by Maine until with only 1:26 to go Bowling Green transfer Jordan Samuels-Thomas, off the face off potted one past Sullivan sending the Bobcats into celebration mode on the ice. The Q would hold off Maine for the remaining minute plus and walk out of Alfond with a huge, signature win. Eric Hartzell was outstanding when he needed to be and was steady at all times. He finished with 31 saves. The line of Jones-Jones-Peca was flying around all night but didn't generate much offense, most likely due to Maine keying them with their top D pairing. However, the line of Langlois-St. Denis-JST was impressive. The three seemed to mesh and play well off one another. Langlois, normally on the receiving end of many goals, became a distributor and played one of his best all around games in a Bobcat sweater. The rest of the fleet played well as well and the Bobcats were especially defensively stalwart, an area where I believe the team will thrive this season. Sophomore Danny Federico, who saw limited ice time last season, played very responsible defense tonight and even when he was marginally beat, he was able to rebound and make quite a few stellar plays.

Read the rest of Luke and Ben's Analysis on FTNTTB

Quinnipiac's 2012-13 Preview

By: Ben Rego

Only days remain until the Quinnipiac Men’s Ice Hockey team laces up their skates for the first time this year as they take on Hockey East’s Maine Black Bears in Oreno, Maine. Not only are the Bobcats coming into this year with one of the strongest teams to ever take the ice up on the biggest hill in Hamden, they’re also coming into it with a new captain for the first time in two seasons.

Senior defensemen Zack Currie will lead the Bobcats this year after a breakout season in 2011-2012 where he found the twine nine times, seven on the power play and also matched that with nine assists. Currie will not be the only one asked to lead this team as juniors Connor and Kellen jones got the nod along with junior Cory Hibbeler as assistant captains. The Jones twins combined for 77 points last year (C. Jones 13G, 28A, K. Jones 14G, 22A).

This offseason was a scary one for some Bobcat fans as the rumors of Head Coach Rand Pecknold taking his talents to Umass swirled with the mutual interest later confirmed by some. Rand would follow up the rumors by signing an extension through 2015-2016 with the team he has been with for the last 18 years. He’s now added a couple more seasons to show why he believes the Bobcats are one of the strongest teams to compete with night in and night out and to try and finally capture an elusive ECAC championship for Quinnipiac.

To read the rest of Ben's preview, go to From The NIP to the Bank.

Video Of The Week: Jordan Samuels-Thomas fights Michael Sdao

This video is a battle between two monsters, who are now both playing in the ECAC. Jordan Samuels-Thomas (6'2" - 190lbs) and Michael Sdao (6'4" - 220lbs) square off here in a junior game between JST's Waterloo Blackhawks and Sdao's Lincoln Stars.

JST is a newcomer to the league, having transferred from Bowling Green last year (he had to sit out the season due to NCAA rules) to Quinnipiac. In his two years in BG, he led the Falcons in scoring both times. But, he has decided to return to his home state of Connecticut to finish up his final two years of eligibility. This pickup by the Bobcats could end up being one of the more under the radar moves of the year.

Personally, I think Sdao won the fight. He is huge, but he's now known more for his offensive skills. Sdao has led all Princeton defensemen in scoring in two out of his three years. The Colorado native is an assistant captain in his final season as a Tiger, so look for him to have his best season yet.

Enjoy the fight. Ding!