Video: Does Former UMass Goaltender Jonathan Quick Have Superpowers?

I know I've been posting a lot of videos the past few days, but aren't they awesome?! This next video is also pretty cool. There are three reasons why I'm posting this video:

1. Jonathan Quick is from Milford, Connecticut which is about 15 minutes away from Bridgeport. He played for Hamden High School (which is where Quinnipiac is) and then went to Avon Old Farms in CT.
2. Quick played college hockey for UMass-Amherst. He backstopped the Minutemen to their first NCAA Tournament appearance. Maybe Keith Kinkaid is the next Jonathan Quick?
3. This "save" by Quick is absolutely ridiculous! Is it a save or is he using some kind of Jedi mind tricks? You make the call.



Greg Wyshynski analyzes the video on Yahoo's Puck Daddy Hockey blog (click here).

College Hockey Video of the Week (12/13/10): UMass Hockey Wedding Proposal

Well, I've never seen this at a college hockey game.

Everytime I see a wedding proposal at a sporting event I always wonder if the woman really finds this romantic. I doubt it, but this woman seems to be happy.

Dutchmen move up in National Rankings

In the first week of December Union cracked the Top 20 in the USCHO.com poll at #20 and then shortly after moved up to #18. The Dutchmen keep crawling up the national rankings as USCHO.com has them ranked as the #17 in Division I college hockey. They are still riding a hot streak where they've only lost one game (against Massachusetts at the UConn Tournament) since losing in overtime to RPI on October 30th. You can view the complete USCHO.com rankings here.

But to be honest I am a little surprised about how they went up in the rankings mainly because of their heartbreaking loss to UMass and their overtime win over Army a few days ago. UMass was the first ranked opponent the Dutchmen faced since cracking the Top 20 and needed to prove that they can deserve to be a national power. But, they blew a two goal third period lead and lost 4-3. I felt this game might have knocked them down the rankings as this was their first chance to prove themselves and they instantly lost in terrible fashion. My case with the Army game is that even though Union beat them it was a very tight game against a bad team. Yes, a win is a win but when you barely beat a team that is not even good in the weakest conference in college hockey (Atlantic Hockey) you should be penalized for it. This is basically the same case I used about how Union will never go too high in the rankings after barely beating AIC and losing to Sacred Heart in overtime (the two worst teams in Atlantic Hockey). But, hey I'm not a voter so it doesn't matter and I'm very excited to see them move up slightly in the rankings.

Also note:

• UMass lost to Bentley and Boston University after beating the Dutchmen in the first round of the UConn tournament and moved down a spot in the USCHO.com rankings to #16.


• Other ECAC teams in the Top 20 include Yale who moved up from #9 to #6, Cornell who dropped from #4 to #8, and Quinnipiac who has rapidly fell and is now #12.


• Union is tied for #15 with Maine in the USCHO.com Pair-Wise Rankings, which is ahead of Quinnipiac and Cornell.


• In the Inside College Hockey Rankings Union still stands at #16. Also, Quinnipiac moved down two spots to #11, Cornell dropped three spots to #6, and Yale moved up three spots to #3.
• Union also received eight votes in the USA Today/ USA Hockey Magazine poll.

#15 UMass ends #18 Union's nine game unbeaten streak

Down 3-1 heading into the third period the Minutemen were able to score three goals to snatch victory away from the Dutchmen by the score of 4-3. Going into the game UMass was known for their third period play and proved it once again. They have now outscored their opponents 25-10 in the third period, and are 3-1 against ECAC opponents this season. This is an incredibly disappointing loss for Union considering they blew a two goal lead in the third period, and had a chance to prove to the nation that they can beat a Top 20 team. As noted in my game preview in order to stop UMass you needed to stop the nation's leading scorer James Marcou and Casey Wellman. The Dutchmen were unable to do this as Marcou registered three assists (including both of Wellman's goals), and Wellman tallied two goals (including the game-winner) and an assist. You can read recaps of the game on UnionAthletics.com and UMassAthletics.com. You can also read clips about the game on USCHO.com and TimesUnion.com.

After dropping this game the Dutchmen will play in the consolation game on Wednesday against host UConn (2-13-2) at 4pm. The Huskies dropped their opening game to Bentley 4-1. The Huskies are one of the worst teams in Division 1 College Hockey as they only have two wins, both of which game against AIC at their home rink early in the season. They haven't won since their last game against AIC on November 7th and are riding a nine game win-less streak. The Dutchmen should easily take care of the Huskies even though they only beat AIC by one goal and lost to Sacred Heart, another Atlantic Hockey team, in overtime. UConn's offense is led by freshman Sean Ambrosie (4g,5a) and junior Andrew Olson (6g,2a) who has four of his goals on the power-play. It will be interesting to see who Coach Leaman starts in goal against UConn considering the importance of the game. He could start Keith Kinkaid because you don't want to lose to a weak team since it would hurt you in the pair-wise rankings, or he could start Corey Milan or Rich 'Pudge' Sillery to give them some work. And once again I personally feel that Leaman should start 'Pudge' since he is a senior and deserves one start in his final collegiate season. If Sillery get the start and lets in a few early goals Leaman could always pull him just like he did against Army last season.

In other ECAC news Princeton came back to tie Maine 6-6, Harvard topped #8 Quinnipiac in a league game, #4 Cornell lost to #3 Colorado College 4-2, and RPI beat Michigan 4-3 in the opening game of the Great Lakes Invitational. Quinnipiac has fallen of late as after winning 12 of their first 13 games they have gone 1-3-1 with their only win coming against AIC.

Dutchmen open up UConn Toyota Classic against #15 Massachusetts

The last time the Dutchmen touched the ice was on December 11th when they beat the U.S. U-18 team 4-1 at Messa Rink in an exhibition match. Now 18 days later they head to Storrs, Connecticut to try and extend their nine game unbeaten streak in the UConn Toyota Classic. In order to extend the streak to 10 they have to face a very tough team in the #15 UMass-Amherst Minutemen (10-5-0, 6-4-0 Hockey East (4th Place)) on Tuesday. Depending on the outcome of the game they will play either host UConn or Bentley.

Here are some things to note heading into the game with the Minutemen:

• Union holds the second longest unbeaten streak in the nation (9)
• This is the first game the Dutchmen will face a ranked opponent since becoming ranked
• Coach Nate Leaman's next win will be his 100th
• Mario Valery-Trabucco leads Union's offensive attack with 10 goals and 11 assists. The Dutchmen are 5-1-2 when he scores a goal this season.
• Union goaltender Keith Kinkaid is 5-0-2 in his last seven games with a 2.08 GAA and a .921 save percentage. He faced RPI in his last start where he let up four goals. This was his weakest outing during his streak, which might have been due to fatigue. He should have plenty of rest heading into the tournament.
• The only Hockey East opponent the Dutchmen have faced this year is Maine. They faced the Black Bears in the opening weekend of the season where they took both games 4-1 and 6-3. Maine has improved since opening weekend and now sit in third place in Hockey East.
• UMass hold the advantage in the series with a 5-2-1 record against the Dutchmen. In their last meeting (11/25/07) the Minutemen won 5-2.
• UMass is a tremendous third period team as they have outscored their opponents 22-10 in the final frame.
• The Minutemen last played on December 12th where they beat Hockey East foe Merrimack 4-1 at the Mullins Center.
• UMass is 3-3-0 against ranked opponents this year with their wins coming against #2 Boston University (3-2, 10/16), #9 Yale (4-3(ot), 11/19), and #18 Vermont (6-2, 11/24). After winning their first three games against ranked opponents they lost the next three to #9 Quinnipiac (5-4 (ot), 11/28), #15 Boston College (3-1, 12/4), and #8 UMass-Lowell (5-3, 12/5).
• The Minutemen hold a 2-1 record over ECAC opponents this year with a 5-2 win over RPI (10/8), a 4-3 (0t) win over Yale (11/19), and a 5-4 (ot) loss against Quinnipiac.
• Junior James Marcou is one of the top forwards in the nation and leads the UMass offense. In 90 career games he has registered 105 points including his 32 assists last season which was a UMass single-season record. Last season as a sophomore Marcou was named a second team All-American. Marcou has kept up the pace this season as he leads the nation with 1.73 points per game and is a legitimate contender for the Hobey Baker award. His 26 points (5g, 21a in 15 games) is third most in the nation. He is only one point behind the nation's top scorers Cory Conacher (Canisus, 18 games) and Corey Tropp (Michigan State, 20 games). His 21 assists and 1.40 assists per game is tops in the country. Look for Marcou's speed and vision on the ice to standout.
• With Marcou setting up all these goals someone has to be the beneficiary. And the person reaping the benefits of Marcou's play is sophomore Casey Wellman. Wellman leads the Minutemen with 13 goals, seven power-play goals, and is second on the team with 22 points (13g, 9a). Of his 13 goals Marcou has assisted on 11 of them including all seven of his power-play goals. Wellman is tied for fourth in the nation in goals and power-play goals, sixth in points per game (1.47), and is 15th in points.
• Defenseman Justin Braun is also an offensive threat for UMass from the blueline. Braun, a 2008-09 Hockey East All-Conference selection and a draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins last year, is 13th in the nation in scoring with 13 points (3g, 10a).
• On the Minutemen power-play look out for defenseman Matthew Irwin who has scored four goals on the man advantage.
• In goal for the Minutemen is junior Paul Danton, who took over the starting job as a freshman when All-American Jon Quick graduated and went to the NHL where he is having a stellar season for the Los Angeles Kings. In 13 games (11 starts) Danton is 8-5 with a 2.61 GAA and a .922 save percentage.

The game will take place at 4pm at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum. For more information on the Dutchmen and Minutemen check out UnionAthletics.com and UMassAthletics.com. You can also read the tournamnet preview on USCHO.com.