Dutchmen Beat Gophers in Overtime 3-2

What a great way to bring in the New Year for the Dutchmen! This was a game they really needed to have in order to prove to the rest of the nation that they are not over-rated. Who knows, but maybe this win will be looked back upon as the defining win of the season. Even though Minnesota might not be a national power this year, it is still a pretty big feat to go into Mariucci and beat the Gophers.

Here's the game summary in short: Gophers score late in the first period... John Simpson ties it up midway through the second with a PPG... Gophers take the lead again with about three minutes left in the second with a PPG... Josh Jooris ties the game up 13 seconds later... Jooris scores his second of the night 42 seconds into overtime.

Union played a streaky game. Sometimes the Dutch really controlled the play and at other times the Gophers skated all over them. Personally, I think Matt Hatch and John Simpson played excellent games as they used their speed and took advantage of the bigger ice surface. Obviously, Josh Jooris had a great game and I felt that Brock Matheson had a very strong performance. He is truly the leader of the defense.

I actually paid $13 to watch the game on Go Gopher Sports.com... and it was worth every penny in the end. Yeah, the quality wasn't so great but the Dutchmen won and that's all I care about. I also want to point out that the announcer for the broadcast was really good. He has a real hockey announcer voice. He also wasn't just interested in his team as he pointed out the academic prestige of Union along with some other cool facts. The Gopher fans on the Go Gopher Sports.com live blog on the other hand weren't as knowledgeable. They had no clue where Union was and some didn't even realize that Union was ranked higher than their team. I think they'll know more about Union after tonight!

Today (Saturday), the Dutchmen take on the Bemidji State Beavers in the tournament championship game. Earlier in the day, the Beavers beat the Ferris State Bulldogs 3-2. Union has successfully hunted the Gophers, and now it's Beaver hunting season. Two victories in Minnesota would be a great way to go into the winter term and the bulk of the league schedule. The game will begin at 5pm EST.

Also, congratulations to Head Coach Nate Leaman on becoming the winningest coach in Union College hockey history with the win tonight. Leaman now has 123 wins as Union's bench boss, surpassing Charlie Morrison who had 122 carer wins.

For more on the game check out:
Union Athletics.com
Go Gopher Sports.com (with post-game interviews from Coach Leaman and Coach Lucia)

Pics and Vids from warmups vs. UConn

Troy Grosenick prepares for his first start

The captains talk to the refs



Greg Coburn



Josh Jooris



Mat Bodie

UConn goalies warm up

Wayne Simpson

Jooris named ECAC Rookie of the Week



The ECAC announced today that Union freshman Josh Jooris was named the ECAC MLX Skates Rookie of the Week.

St. Lawrence's Sean Flanagan and Matt Weninger were named the ECAC MLX Skates Player of the Week and ECAC MLX Skates Goalie of the Week, respectively. 

Honestly, I feel Kelly Zajac should have won the Player of the Week award. He scored a program record four goals in one game, and was the difference in the score as Union won 7-3. I also feel that Keith Kinkaid should have won Goalie of the Week after he did not allow a single goal during the weekend. He shut out Sacred Heart on Friday, and then came in relief for Corey Milan after the Pioneers tied the game and were buzzing. But hey, you can't win everything.

For the official release go to ECAC Hockey.com.

Videos from Opening Night 2010

What a way to start the 2010-11 campaign! It was a blowout from the beginning, but it was still fun especially since Sacred Heart beat Union last season. It just seemed that every scoring chance Union had they put in, and every chance Sacred Heart had Keith Kinkaid stepped up.

Oh, and who is Mario Valery-Trabucco and Jason Walters again? I only know of Josh Jooris and Daniel Carr... haha I'm just kidding. But seriously, way to make your mark in your first collegiate game! At first I doubted the Jooris-Welsh-Carr line since I felt Welsh would be better suited to play with Zajac and/or Presizniuk, but right now I'm definitely wrong. Let's all hope that these guys can keep it up. We all have to remember how John Simpson and Brian Yanovitch got off to very hot starts last season, but after that they both produced very little.

And on a personal funny side note, let's hope Jooris doesn't suffer from "Dan Greene Syndrome." What is DGS you ask? Well, in my first travel hockey game as a Mite I scored a hat trick in a 9-2 romp over the Montclair Blues... and after that game I never scored hat trick ever again. EVER AGAIN! After Mites I moved to defense and the rest is history (plus I never was and aren't much of a scorer haha).

Now, back to real hockey. Everybody from top to bottom looked good last night and all the lines looked like they had good chemistry. I know it's only the first game, but hey it's better than not playing well.

On another note, the student section looked to be pretty packed! Even Will Friedman (aka UnionHockeyManiac) made the trek from NYC to watch the game. But, the local fans did not show as their side of the rink was pretty empty. Maybe it was because of high school football? Whatever the case though they missed out on a fun game.

For more on last night's game check out my article on USCHO, Ken Schott's Blog, Union Athletics.com, and Times Union.com.

By the way, I will not be attending tonight's game because I'll be working the Albany Devils home opener with our old friend Kevin Zalaznik. So make sure you follow Ken Schott's blog or the Extra Frame Blog for twitter updates.

Here are some videos from Opening Night 2010:

Dutchmen announce Class of 2014

Union Head Coach Nate Leaman announced that he will be adding eight student-athletes to his roster next season. There will be five forwards, two defensemen, and a goaltender joining the Dutchmen for their 2010-11 campaign. Five of the players are from the States, while the other three a hail from Canada. These guys have some big shoes to fill after the likes of Mario Valery-Trabucco, Jason Walters, and Mike Schreiber have all graduated.

The five forwards are Daniel Carr, Matt Hatch, Cole Ikkala, Josh Jooris, and Kevin Sullivan. The two defensemen are Mat Bodie and Mike Ingoldsby. Troy Grosenick is the lone goaltender.

I am very excited to see all of these guys take the ice in Union uniforms, but I am most interested to see Mat Bodie, the younger brother of Kyle Bodie. From what I have read the younger Bodie is a tremendous offensive defenseman and will make an immediate impact. There is a very high chance that he will be starting lineup once the opening of the season comes around. Ingoldsby sounds like a great blueliner as well and should compete for playing time in his first season. Grosenick sounds like a solid goalie, but will probably have to wait for his senior year to see any real playing time as it seems Keith Kinkaid's position in between the pipes is pretty solidified.

Offensively, it sounds like Leaman has recruited a diverse bunch of players. I think all could make an impact in their first season in Schenectady, but it should be interesting how true freshman like Carr and Sullivan adapt to the college game. And I'm going to call it right now... I think Cole Ikkala will be a fan favorite in his four years. With a last name like that and a gritty style of play he should draw some praise from the Union faithful.

For more on the Class of 2014 check out Union Athletics.com and Ken Schott's Blog.

Recruit Updates

On the USCHO.com Union Hockey forum ADK11 did an excellent job informing everyone of the progress all of the Dutchmen recruits are making (post #366). It looks like we're getting some talented players. One of the most interesting and exciting players is Josh Jooris who is leading the CCHL in scoring this season. You can read a feature on Jooris in the Burlington Post.