BLAINE, Minn. — Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men’s hockey season gets underway this weekend, as all eight teams take part in the three-day MIAC Men’s Hockey Showcase at Fogerty Ice Arena.
MIAC Showcase Schedule (All Games Played At Fogerty Arena)
Friday, October 29
Game 1: Augsburg vs. Gustavus, 4 p.m. (South Rink)
Game 2: Saint John’s vs. Hamline, 5:30 p.m. (North Rink)
Game 3: St. Thomas vs. Bethel, 7 p.m. (South Rink)
Saturday, October 30
Game 1: St. Olaf vs. Saint John’s, 4 p.m. (South Rink)
Game 2: Bethel vs. Concordia, 5:30 p.m. (North Rink)
Game 3: Saint Mary’s vs. Augsburg, 7 p.m. (South Rink)
Sunday, October 31
Game 1: Concordia vs. St. Thomas, 1 p.m. (South Rink)
Game 2: Gustavus vs. Saint Mary’s, 2:30 p.m. (North Rink)
Game 3: Hamline vs. St. Olaf, 4 p.m. (South Rink)
MIAC Showcase Live On The Web:
Live Stats / Showcase Scoreboard / MIAC Hockey Homepage
Augsburg Auggies News and Notes:
The Auggies closed out their 2009-2010 season with a history-making performance, as Augsburg and Gustavus played the longest game in NCAA Division III history, as GAC escaped with a 6-5, four-overtime win in the semifinals of the MIAC Tournament. … Goalie Justin Lochner stopped an NCAA record-setting 98 shots in that semifinal loss. … The Auggies made their second straight MIAC Tournament appearance — and third in the last four seasons under head coach Chris Brown — a year ago. … Augsburg's 16 wins last season are its most since the 2002-03 campaign, when the Auggies went 17-9-0. … The Auggies will be without graduated senior and two-time All-American Chris Johnson, who finished third among the Auggies in scoring with 28 points, including 11 goals and a team-high 17 assists. … Joel Sauer returns for his senior year, after earning First-Team All-MIAC honors a year ago. Sauer finished second on the team in goals (16), assists (16) and points (32). … Nick Guran, an honorable-mention all-conference selection a year ago, was the team’s leader in goals (18) and points (33). … Lochner appeared in 19 games in goal for the Auggies last season, compiling a 2.32 goals-against-average and a stellar .925 save percentage. … After starting the season 2-3-0, the Auggies went 14-7-1 overall their final 22 games, including a season-high seven-game winning streak.
Bethel Royals News and Notes:
The Royals finished sixth in the conference standings a year ago — and for the second year in a row, were eliminated from MIAC playoff contention on the regular season’s final day. … The Royals will have a new face behind the bench this season, as Charlie Burggraf — who coached the Royals’ women’s team from 2006-10 — replaces Joel Johnson as Bethel’s head coach. … The Royals will be without the services of graduated senior goaltender Aaron Damjanovich, a First-Team All-MIAC selection a year ago. Damjanovich appeared in 22 of the team’s 25 games, compiling a 3.46 goals-against-average and an .889 save percentage. … The Royals do return a pair of All-MIAC?first-teamers in Jack Paul and Jon Crouse, as well as honorable-mention selection Tom Menozzi. … In his first year as a Royal last season, Paul led the team in goals (12) and points (24), while Crouse posted a team-leading 17 assists and was second in points with 21 during his freshman campaign last season. … The Royals’ 79 goals last season came from 20 different players. … Bethel was a perfect 3-0 in overtime games last season. … Eight of the Royals’ 25 games were decided by one goal, including five of Bethel’s 15 losses.
Concordia Cobbers News and Notes:
The Cobbers finished three points out of the MIAC playoff hunt a year ago. … Erick Galt returns after earning All-MIAC honors during his sophomore campaign a year ago. Galt finished with two goals and 14 assists for a career-high 16 points last season. … Pat Deitz, who finished third on the team in scoring with seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points, was named to the MIAC All-Rookie Team a year ago. … The Cobbers return their top seven scorers, including leading scorer Nick Thielen, who led the squad in both goals (10) and points (23). … Concordia boasted seven players with 10 or more points a year ago — and all seven are back for the 2010-2011 campaign. … Last year, Concordia led the MIAC in combined special teams play (56.5%) and was second in penalty kill (89.8%). … All five of the Cobbers’ ties last season came in MIAC play — 3-3 and 1-1 vs. St. Olaf, 4-4 vs. St. Thomas, 1-1 vs. Saint John’s and 2-2 vs. Hamline. … Fourteen of Concordia’s 25 games were decided by two goals or less. … All five of the Cobbers’ wins last season came on their home ice, where Concordia went 5-5-1.
Gustavus Gusties News and Notes:
The Gusties, the 2009-2010 defending MIAC regular-season champions reached the NCAA national tournament quarterfinals for the second year in a row last season, falling to St. Norbert 3-1 in DePere, Wis. … GAC was part of NCAA Division III’s longest game, beating Augsburg 6-5 in four overtimes in the semifinals of the MIAC Tournament. GAC then played another overtime period the following night in falling to St. Thomas 2-1 in the title game. … Gustavus’ 20 wins last season were the most since the Gusties went 22-6-1 during the 1992-93 season. … GAC will be without the services of graduated senior David Martinson, the MIAC and American Hockey Coaches Association Division III Player of the Year. A first team All-American, Martinson led the MIAC in scoring with 23 goals, 13 assists for 36 points. Nationally, he led the NCAA with 1.04 goals-per-game (29 goals in 29 games) and ranked fifth in points-per-game at 1.69 (49 points in 29 games). Martinson compiled 76 goals and 55 assists for 131 points in 85 career contests. … Ross Ring-Jarvi is back, after leading the team in assists (25) and finishing second on the team in goals (16) and points (40). … Josh Swartout returns to his senior season, after starting 26 of the team’s 29 games. Swartout compiled a 2.09 goals-against-average and a .910 save percentage.
Hamline Pipers News and Notes:
The Pipers finished second to Gustavus in the regular-season conference race, then fell 5-4 in overtime to eventual MIAC playoff champion St. Thomas 5-4. … Last year’s MIAC playoff appearance was the third straight for the Pipers. … The Pipers return two-time AHCA All-American defenseman Chris Berenguer, who finished second on the team in points with 28 (6 goals, team-high 22 assists). Berenguer also ranked seventh in NCAA Division III in defensemen scoring (1.12 points-per-game) and led all MIAC defensemen with 17 points (3 goals, 14 assists in 16 conference games). … The Pipers boasted five players on the All-MIAC First Team a year ago, and three of the five — Berenguer, Brian Arrigoni, and Beau Christian — are back in 2010-2011. … Arrigoni led the team with 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists), while graduated senior Kyle Kurr boasted a team-leading 14 goals. … The Pipers had 12 players record 10 or more points — including six with 20 or more. … Christian started 25 of the team’s 26 games in goal, compiling a 2.43 goals-against-average and a .907 save percentage. … Ten of Hamline’s 16 wins came at home, where the Pipers finished the season 10-3-2.
Saint John's Johnnies News and Notes:
The Johnnies are looking to pick up where they left off in 2009-2010, when SJU closed out the season winning three of its final four games. … Michael Palmiscno, who tied for fourth among all MIAC?freshmen with 16 points, became the fifth Johnnie since the 2004-2005 season to be named to the All-MIAC Rookie Team a year ago. … The Johnnies will rely heavily on the experience of returning captain and standout two-way player Mike Wallgren, since they will be without the services of graduated seniors Karl Gilbert and Gabriel Harren. Gilbert led the team in goals (12) and points (22), while Harren was the team’s assist leader (11). … Also missing when the Johnnies take the ice will be goaltender Stu Van Ess, who appeared in 15 games during his senior year, posting a 2.70 goals-against-average and a .906 save percentage. … The Johnnies got at least one point from every player on the roster a year ago — all 24 players. … The Johnnies won three games at home, three games on the road and three games on neutral ice. … SJU outscored its opponents 27-26 in the second period and 29-25 in the third. … Fourteen of the Johnnies’ 25 games last year were decided by two goals or less.
Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
The Cardinals are looking to rebound from a disappointing 2009-2010 season, in which SMU led or was tied in the third period in nine of their 23 games, but managed just one win. … Vincent Unklesbay returns as the Cardinals’ top offensive threat, after scoring four goals and adding eight assists for 12 points. … Unklesbay had a team-best, three-assist night vs. Bethel on Jan. 22. … Ben Kitzmiller led the team with four power play goals. … SMU’s 47 goals came from 18 different players — including career firsts by Blake Zemaitis, Nate Peterson, Chase Marshall, Nate Percy and Kevin Wentland — while 23 different Cardinals notched at least one point. … The Cardinals scored a season-high four goals three times — a 4-4 tie vs. Nichols, and 5-4 losses to Bethel and Augsburg. … Goalies Jason Horstman and Andy Scheib each enjoyed stellar first years. Horstman, who stopped 40 or more shots three times — including a career-high 42 at Concordia on Nov. 14 — compiled a 4.29 goals-percentage in five starts. … The Cardinals scored first in seven of their 25 games. … The Cardinals were 2-0-1 in OT games a year ago.
St. Olaf Oles News and Notes:
The Oles are coming off a fifth-place conference finish — and their sixth MIAC playoff appearance in their last seven seasons — in 2009-2010. … St. Olaf fell to Augsburg 3-2 in double overtime in last year’s conference playoffs. … The Oles return three First-Team All-MIAC selections in Isak Tranvik, Britton Smith and Charlie Raskob. … Tranvik finished last season as the team leader in assists (18) and points (32), while Smith had a team-high 17 goals — including 10 in conference play — and was second on the team in points with 30. … The Oles finished 2009-2010 with three players boasting 10 or more goals — Tranvik, Smith and Caleb Harrison (10), while seven players collected 10 or more points. … Twenty different players scored for St. Olaf a year ago, while 23 players had at least one point. … Ben Leis and Nick Krauss are both back, after sharing the goaltending duties a year ago. Leis compiled a 2.51 goals-against-average and a .920 save percentage in 14 games, while Krauss had a 3.14 GAA and an .893 save percentage in 13 games. … Eighteen of St. Olaf’s 27 games were decided by two goals or less. … The Oles were 4-4-5 in one-goal games. … St. Olaf played six overtime games a year ago, going 0-1-5.
St. Thomas Tommies News and Notes:
The Tommies, the MIAC playoff champions — after finishing third during the regular season — made their seventh NCAA Division III National Tournament appearance in the last 12 years a year ago, falling to Gustavus 3-1 in the opening round. … With their 13-11-4 overall record in 2009-2010, the Tommies locked up their 28th consecutive winning season. … The Tommies return their top two scorers in Andrew Kappers and Rob Johnson. Kappers led the team in assists (19) and points (29), while Johnson was the team’s leader in goals with 11. … Kappers was one of three UST players with 10 goals last season. Alex Arnason and Parker Burgess, both seniors in 2009-2010, are the other two. … UST boasted four players with 20 or more points and six with 10 or more. … The Tommies will be without the services of graduated senior goalie Joe Schraeder, who played in 23 of the team’s 28 games, compiling a 3.25 goals-against-average and an .887 save percentage. … The Tommies were 10-4-1 when they scored first last season and just 3-6-3 when their opponents scored first. … UST played six overtime games last season, going 2-0-4. … UST went 6-2-4 in one-goal games a year ago. |
