Three conferences get their playoffs under way this weekend, but let’s take a moment to appreciate one last regular season matchup while there’s still time.
Just 70 miles of Interstate 25 separate Denver University and Colorado College, but the distance is six points in the WCHA standings. The Pioneers can’t catch up to their intra-state rivals, since this is the final weekend of the regular season. The teams split their series over Thanksgiving weekend, with each squad winning at home. The memories from November are quickly fading, but whichever team comes out on top in this weekend’s home-and-home will have a lot of momentum heading into the conference playoffs.
Colorado College fell off slightly in 2008 after its torrid start to the season, but freshman Richard Bachman (Dallas Stars) has continued his solid play in net. Bachman’s .934 save percentage is the best in the nation. He is third nationally in goals against average behind upperclassmen Jean-Philippe Lamoreaux (North Dakota) and Jeff Zatkoff (Miami-Ohio).
Junior Chad Rau (Toronto Maple Leafs) has been the Tigers’ offensive spark plug with 37 points in 33 games, including a nation-leading six shorthanded goals. But senior Jack Hillen’s offensive contributions from the blueline have largely gone unnoticed. Hillen leads the nation in scoring by a defenseman with 32 points.
The Pioneers are paced by their five underclassmen forwards: sophomores Brock Trotter, Rhett Rakhshani (New York Islanders) and Tyler Ruegsegger (Toronto Maple Leafs) along with freshmen Tyler Bozak and Kyle Ostrow. The five have combined for 126 points — more than half of the team’s offensive output. Rakhshani, who is listed as the No. 4 prospect in the Islanders’ organization by hockeysfuture.com, has stood out in the group for his skating ability and vision. But he obviously has a scoring touch, too, as evidenced by the three goals he scored in a five-minute span against St. Cloud State in December. (Watch them here.)
Just 70 miles of Interstate 25 separate Denver University and Colorado College, but the distance is six points in the WCHA standings. The Pioneers can’t catch up to their intra-state rivals, since this is the final weekend of the regular season. The teams split their series over Thanksgiving weekend, with each squad winning at home. The memories from November are quickly fading, but whichever team comes out on top in this weekend’s home-and-home will have a lot of momentum heading into the conference playoffs.
Colorado College fell off slightly in 2008 after its torrid start to the season, but freshman Richard Bachman (Dallas Stars) has continued his solid play in net. Bachman’s .934 save percentage is the best in the nation. He is third nationally in goals against average behind upperclassmen Jean-Philippe Lamoreaux (North Dakota) and Jeff Zatkoff (Miami-Ohio).
Junior Chad Rau (Toronto Maple Leafs) has been the Tigers’ offensive spark plug with 37 points in 33 games, including a nation-leading six shorthanded goals. But senior Jack Hillen’s offensive contributions from the blueline have largely gone unnoticed. Hillen leads the nation in scoring by a defenseman with 32 points.
The Pioneers are paced by their five underclassmen forwards: sophomores Brock Trotter, Rhett Rakhshani (New York Islanders) and Tyler Ruegsegger (Toronto Maple Leafs) along with freshmen Tyler Bozak and Kyle Ostrow. The five have combined for 126 points — more than half of the team’s offensive output. Rakhshani, who is listed as the No. 4 prospect in the Islanders’ organization by hockeysfuture.com, has stood out in the group for his skating ability and vision. But he obviously has a scoring touch, too, as evidenced by the three goals he scored in a five-minute span against St. Cloud State in December. (Watch them here.)
1 comment:
cool, who knew an east coast (let alone the NYT) publication would give a rat's a$$ about anything out here! I'm ready for some excitement to go down tonight!`
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