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The Lady Colonials (12-19-1) are facing off this weekend in a home-at-home series against #7 Mercyhurst (22-7-3), starting tonight. RMU is 0-12 all-time versus the Lady Lakers.

Some Quick Hits:
-5-12 this season on the road
-7-7-1 this season at the Island Sports Center
-outscored opponents 48-39 at home

The Watcher's eye:
Watching Mercyhurst gives you a chance to see two of the best players to come into women's hockey out of Canada:Meghan Agosta and Valerie Chouinard. Agosta is currently 4th in the Nation in points (59) and she leads her team in goals (36) and is second in assists (23). Chouinard has posted 43 points on the season tallying 13 goals and 30 assists.

This series has always been dominated by Mercyhurst, but the Lady Colonials have made serious strides in their season as well as the program. It is not hard to say that the Lady Colonials could come away with a huge upset in Erie or at home this weekend, especially with the strong performances against #10 Wayne State two weekends ago.

If you look at the box score from the games early on in the season, especially the games against Mercyhurst, the Lady Colonials were having a hard time getting shots on goal, which ultimately lead to being defeated. Lately however, the Lady Colonials have been a force around the net, not only getting more shots on goal, but limiting their opponents shots. In the win at Wayne State, RMU out shot the Warriors 29-27, winning 2-1, but in the loss the next night (1-2) they were out shot 23-17.

Listen Live Tonight at 7:30 EST

RMU Press Release

With the season winding down, the Colonials have two weekend sets of games left on their plate, coming up first, the Niagara Purple Eagles on Friday and Saturday. The Colonials are 2-2 this season against Niagara, with one win on the road. This season the Colonials are 4-2-2 in CHA conference road games, but only 3-4 in non-conference games.

I the two wins versus Niagara, the Colonials have out shot the Purple Eagles in a total of, 151-108 abut have been outscored in a total of, 13-16 in the four games so far this season. It's great to look at the numbers and see that RMU is skating toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the nation, but good team or not, you have to put those shots in the net. RMU has been playing well of late, this series is a spirited rivalry and I look forward to hearing the games on the radio and seeing some hard fought hockey.

Yahoo Radio Broadcast

RMUColonials.com Press Release

The CHA Tournament is coming up on March 7th & 8th (Women's Tournament) and March 14th through the 16th (Men's Tournament) at Niagara University and here is the information about the games.

Men's Tournament
The Men's Tournament will be held from March 14th through the 16th at Niagara University. Here is the makeup of the games for the men, starting on the 14th - #4 Seed vs #5 Seed at 7pm. March 15th - #1 Seed vs Winner of #4/#5 game at 2pm and the second game that day is the #2 Seed vs #3 Seed at 7pm. The Championship Game can be seen on CSTV March 16th at 2pm.

Men's Ticket Order Form found here

Women's Tournament
The Women's Tournament will be held from March 7th through March 8th. The games are determined based on who Niagara will play, since they are the home team, they will have the prime spot of a 7pm game on the first day. The first game will be at 3pm. The Championship game will be at 7pm on the 8th.

The games could possibly be Robert Morris vs Wayne State in the first game (#4 Seed vs #1 Seed) and the second game of Mercyhurst vs Niagara (#2 Seed vs #3 Seed). If Wayne State and Mercyhurst sweep their weekend series' this weekend, Wayne State holds the tie breaker against Mercyhurst for the #1 Seed.

Women's Ticket Order Form found here

We are hoping to send out a crew from RMU-TV to tape the Men's Tournament for a re-broadcast in the Moon Township Area.

Check back to Centre Ice for complete tournament coverage soon!

I recently emailed members of the CHA conference, specifically the CHA assistant commissioner, Jeff Weiss and I was told that there is no new news for the CHA and that they do not expect to know anything about the CHA's future until the CHA year-end meetings in April.

Hopefully good news is to come.

The Wayne State Lady Warriors defeated Mercyhurst this weekend in a spirited battle for a 3-2 win in overtime.

Check out the Press Release on the game





The CHA Standings look like this:

                         Conference Only                 
                   Pts  GP  Record  Win%  GF- GA  
1 Mercyhurst        15  10  7- 2- 1 .750  42- 16
* Wayne State       15  10  7- 2- 1 .750  34- 23
3 Niagara            6  10  3- 7- 0 .300  17- 37
4 Robert Morris      4  10  2- 8- 0 .200  17- 34

(source: collegehockeystats.net)

The Warriors now have three players at the top of the Conference points standings:

Point Scoring:                                     GP     PPG    G- A- P
1   Melissa Boal       Wayne State      JR F       28    2.25   31-32-63
*   Sam Poyton         Wayne State      JR F       30    2.10   35-28-63
3   Lindsay DiPietro   Wayne State      JR F       30    2.03   16-45-61

(source: collegehockeystats.net)


Here are the rankings as of 2/25/08:

Rank	School	W-L	Points	Prev
1	Harvard (10)	25-1-0	145	1
2	UNH (5)	28-3-1	135	2
3	UMD	27-4-1	124	3
4	Minnesota	25-5-4	98	4
5	Wisconsin	24-7-3	88	5
6	St. Lawrence	25-8-1	85	6
7	Mercyhurst	22-7-3	50	7
8	UConn	22-5-5	49	8
9	Clarkson	22-7-5	27	9
10	Dartmouth	16-7-6	17	10

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Wayne State 6, Providence 1
(source: CSTV)

For the last three games, team captain Kristen Miles has been a healthy scratch. On November 3rd, when RMU played Sacred Heart at home, Coach Handrahan told our production crew that it was a "coach's decision" as to why Miles was scratched, as well as alluding to her not practicing hard enough during the week.

Prior to Kristen sitting out these last three games, between the dates of December 30th and February 15th (her last 10 games), Miles has 6 points (5 goals and 1 assist) and has averaged 2.9 shots a game.

Kristen's last game, the win at #10 Wayne State on February 15th, she had no shots on goal, she only won 6 of her 18 face-offs, but she did not commit a penalty.

Hopefully we can hear back soon from Coach Handrahan on Kristen's status, whether it is an injury or a coaches decision.

Maybe this will light a fire under someone's ass...cough cough..(Cruthers). The latest top 3 and potential "outsiders looking in," on InsideCollegeHockey.com, came out last tuesday, and Ryan Cruthers of RMU has dropped from their list. Ryan hasn't gone cold, but it seems to be that other players have been heating up for their teams in the final stretch of the season.

If Robert Morris looks to make an impact going into the CHA tournament, they need to look to Ryan Cruthers' stick to heat up on the offensive zone. Shots, shots and more shots Ryan...non-alcoholic preferably.

Check it out here: Hobey Tracker

*credit the photo to rmucolonials.com

Here is what the Poll looks like right now, but let's remember, Michigan got crushed once this past weekend to Michigan State, but this did win last night.

Look who is still sitting at no.20....damn Purple Eagles

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Michigan	(48)	25- 3-4	998	1
2	North Dakota	( 2)	19- 8-2	952	3
3	New Hampshire		19- 7-2	876	4
4	Colorado College		21- 8-1	843	5
5	Miami		25- 6-1	828	2
6	Michigan State		20- 8-5	715	8
7	Boston College		16- 7-7	685	7
8	Denver		19-10-1	663	6
9	Notre Dame		21-10-3	557	9
10	Wisconsin		14-12-6	504	10
11	Minnesota State		16-11-4	484	13
12	Clarkson		17-10-3	469	11
13	Minnesota-Duluth		12-10-6	424	12
14	Northeastern		14-11-3	259	15
14	Providence		13-11-4	259	14
16	St. Cloud State		14-13-3	255	19
17	Princeton		15-10-0	251	17
18	Mass.-Lowell		13-11-4	139	18
19	Quinnipiac		17- 9-4	116	16
20	Niagara		16- 8-4	62	20

Others Receiving Votes: Minnesota 48, Michigan Tech 24, Harvard 16, Massachusetts 11, Army 10, Ferris State 10, Cornell 8, Boston University 7, Union 7, Nebraska-Omaha 6, Bemidji State 4, Air Force 2, Bowling Green 2, Colgate 2, RIT 2, Yale 2


Source: USCHO.com

The US National Under-18 Team finally got a win Saturday at the Island Sports Center against the Robert Morris Colonials in a 5-2 final score. The Colonials were desperate on the offensive attack and could not limit shots on goal as they were badly out shot 31-19 in the game.

1st Period
Five minutes in the Colonials fell behind as Vinny Saponari put one past goaltender Wes Russell, on the power play.

2nd Period
The Colonials got on the board at the 3:35 mark as David Boguslawski put one in the net on the power play. Saponari got a second goal at 13:46 on the clock to give Team USA a 2-1 lead. This is where things started to get hairy as Team USA continued to pour on the shots, which lead to a 3-1 lead at the 15:03 mark, until RMU's David Boguslawski scored his second goal of the game to cut the lead to one.

3rd Period
One Second into the 3rd Period, Team USA's David Wohlberg put his second goal of the game against Jim Patterson's entrance to the game. Patterson played better after the initial second of the game, making 10 saves on 11 shots total, in 20 minutes of play. Russell played 40 minutes making 16 saves on 20 shots.

Views on the Game
RMU lost the face-off battle 43-25, which was by far their worst outing this season at the face-off circle. The Colonials were also horribly out shot 31-19 on the game, only mustering up 2 goals. The Colonials are now 1-2-1 all-time vs Team USA.

Looking to Next Week
The Colonials are heading to Niagara next weekend (2/29-3/1) to take on the Purple Eagles (17-9-4, 9-5-2 CHA) who are tied with RMU for 2nd in the CHA conference standings. The season series stands at 2-2 between these division rivals.

RMU vs Team USA Press Release/Box Score

The Lady Colonials (12-19-1, 2-8-0 CHA) lost 4-1 Saturday Night to the Purple Eagles (9-19-4, 3-7-0 CHA) as Niagara swept the weekend series on Senior Night in front of a crowd of 391 in Dwyer Arena. The weekend's losses have put RMU in 4th place on the CHA, and things only look to get more difficult next weekend, as the Lady Colonials take on the no. 7 ranked team in the nation and no. 1 ranked team in the conference, in Mercyhurst, in a home-at-home series on February 29th and March 1st.

1st Period
The Lady Colonials got off to a hot start in Saturday's game, as Mallory Giambra took a slapshot past goaltender Jill Zelonis, to score her 4th goal of the season and give the Colonials the lead. The Purple Eagles responded late in the first period (17:28) as Liza Agozzino scored her 5th goal of the season to tie the game at one a piece on the power play.

2nd Period
Nearly two minutes in, the Colonials got the chance to go up on the power play, only to give up a short-handed goal to Ashley Riggs, as she scored her 20th goal of the season.

3rd Period
Niagara continued to pour it on, as they put two past goaltender Brianne McLaughlin at 16:39, and 18:23, to ride the score to 4-1.

Views on the Game
Some things to look at for the game, mainly were the opportunities that the Lady Colonials had to on the power play, as Niagara had 9 penalties for 18 minutes, throughout the game. Niagara limited RMU's shots on the power play to 7, which became a huge factor for the Lady Colonials. The Lady Colonials were subsequently out shot in the game 27 to 16.

Looking to Next Week
February 29th and March 1st, the Lady Colonials take on the Mercyhurst Lakers (22-7-3, 7-2-1 CHA *tie for 1st) in a home-at-home series. So far this season, the Lady Colonials are 0-2 vs the Lakers, the first game they were shutout 3-0 and the second they fell 6-1.

Check out the box score from Saturday's Game

*Team Captain Kristian Miles did not dress again for the second game in a row

Last night, the Lady Colonials were taken down by the Purple Eagles of Niagara 2-1. Both teams are now in a tie for third place in the CHA, sitting at a 2-8 conference record. The loss drops Goaltender Brianne McLaughlin to 9-18-1 on the season. Freshman forward Sarah O'Malley now leads the team in points (17) with 11 goals and 6 assists on the season. If you look at the box score there are a few things that stand out, the first being that Captain Kristen Miles was scratched from the lineup. This is not the first time Coach Handrahan has scratched his Captain from the lineup this season. Miles could very well be dealing with a lingering injury or something different, that may have kept her out of the lineup as well.

The Lady Colonials seemed to be in full control of this game as well, until the third period where they were outshot 11-3. The game winning goal was decided in the third period as well by Niagara. The Colonials could not capitalize on their power play opportunities going 0-4, but letting Niagara go 1-4. The perfect opportunity came for the Colonials at the 15:38 mark when they went on the Power Play in the third period, only they could not position themselves to get any scoring chances or any shots in an attempt to tie the game.

These two teams face-off again, tonight at 7:00pm.


Here are the stats from last night's contest:

                        |-Shots by Prd-|
## Robert Morris         1  2  3    Tot +/-
-------------------------------------------
3  Dy-anna Stewart.....  0  0  0      0   0
5  Jenny Monteleone....  0  0  0      0   0
6 *Mallory Giambra.....  0  1  0      1   0
8  Kylie Rossler.......  0  0  0      0   0
9  Alissa Dorman.......  0  0  1      1   0
11*Morgan Beikirch.....  2  1  0      3   0
12*Jacki Gibson........  2  2  0      4   0
15 Whitney Pappas......  1  2  0      3  -1
16*Sara O'Malley.......  1  0  0      1   0
17 Maria Olausson......  0  1  0      1   0
18 Samantha Ullrich....  0  1  0      1  +1
19 Jessica Riley.......  0  0  0      0   0
20 Ali Proodian........  0  2  1      3   0
21 Chelsea Walkland....  0  1  0      1   0
22 Megan Picinic.......  1  0  0      1   0
24 Kathryn Traynor.....  0  0  0      0   0
27 Jordan Riley........  0  0  0      0   0
29*Maria Stoa..........  0  1  1      2   0
TM TEAM................  0  0  0      0   0
Totals..............  7 12  3     22   0

                   |-Shots by Prd-|
## Niagara               1  2  3    Tot +/-
-------------------------------------------
4 *McKinnon, Mary......  2  1  0      3  +1
5  Edwards, Kara.......  0  0  0      0  -1
7 *Breu, Alyssa........  0  0  0      0  +1
10 Agozzino, Lisa......  1  0  0      1   0
11 Castonguay, Emilie..  0  0  0      0   0
12 Yorkson, Mallory....  0  0  0      0   0
14 Malty, Alison.......  0  1  0      1   0
15 Mills, Melanie......  0  0  2      2  +1
16 Bleiman, Meagan.....  0  0  0      0   0
17 Price, Megan........  0  0  0      0   0
20 Henriksen, Marie....  2  2  2      6  -1
21 McPhail, Frances....  1  0  2      3   0
22*Stuntz, Autumn......  0  0  1      1  -1
23*Moulson, Shannon....  0  0  0      0   0
24 Jablonski, Christina  0  0  1      1   0
91*Riggs, Ashley.......  1  6  3     10   0
Totals..............    7 10 11     28   0

Goals by Period
Team   1  2  3  Tot
-------------------
RMU    0  1  0 -  1
NIA    1  0  1 -  2

Shots by Period
Team   1  2  3  Tot
-------------------
RMU    7 12  3 - 22
NIA    7 10 11 - 28

Power Play G-Att (Shots)
Prd      RMU         NIA
-----------------------------
1st    0-1 (1)     1-2 (3)
2nd    0-2 (6)     0-1 (1)
3rd    0-1 (0)     0-1 (0)
Total  0-4 (7)     1-4 (4)

Penalties/Minutes by Prd
Prd      RMU       NIA
-------------------------
1st      2/4       1/2
2nd      2/4       3/6
3rd      2/4       2/4
Total    6/12      6/12

GOALTENDERS

Robert Morris           Dec  MIN  GA EN   1  2  3 Svs
-----------------------------------------------------
33 Brianne McLaughlin..  L  60:00  2  0   6 10 10  26

Niagara                 Dec  MIN  GA EN   1  2  3 Svs
-----------------------------------------------------
1  Zelonis, Jill.......  W  60:00  1  0   7 11  3  21

Robert Morris Press Release

The Lady Colonials (12-17-1, 2-6-0 CHA) are set to take on the Niagara Purple Eagles (7-19-4, 1-7-0 CHA) in Niagara this weekend. Here is the info from the RMU Press Release:

The Robert Morris University women’s ice hockey team heads to Niagara Falls this weekend for a two-game set against Niagara on Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, Feb. 23. The Colonials are currently 12-17-1 overall and 2-6-0 in the CHA.

Robert Morris enters the series fresh off a split against Wayne State. The Colonials knocked off #10 Wayne State 2-1 in game one, marking several firsts for the young program including their first win over a ranked opponent and their first win over the Warriors in 11 attempts. The win also pushed the Colonials to 12 wins, surpassing a program-best of 11 wins set during the 2006-07 season. Junior Megan Picinic and sophomore Jessica Riley tallied goals while junior Brianne McLaughlin went the distance in goal with 26 saves, including a shutout third period against the second-ranked scoring offense in the country. Game two saw the Colonials drop a hard fought battle falling 2-1 to the Warriors in a mirror image of the first game. Junior Morgan Beikirch tallied the lone goal for RMU while McLaughlin finished with 21 saves.

Read more at RMUCOLONIALS.com

Gaul returns home to face Robert Morris
By Mike Prisuta
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Patrick Gaul is so appreciative of the opportunity to wear a USA jersey while skating with the U.S. National Under-18 Team that it bothers him to have to take it off.
"The feeling is kind of indescribable," Gaul said. "But I get mad after every game because I know that's one less chance I'll have to put it on."

His next chance will come at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday at the Island Sports Center against Robert Morris University, a homecoming for the former Pittsburgh Hornets star.

"I pretty much grew up in that rink," Gaul said.

Gaul, a 5-foot-7, 180-pound center, spent his freshman and sophomore years at Upper St. Clair High School before the chance to join the U.S. National Team Development Program beckoned.
He played this past season with the Under-17 squad and is sixth in scoring for the Under-18 team through 39 games (7-12-19) in 2007-08.

Both teams are comprised of elite players brought to the NTDP's headquarters in Ann Arbor, Mich., where they live with host families, attend a local high school and compete on national and international levels.

The Under-18 team already has included Maine, Colorado College, Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio State among its NCAA foes, and it will finish its season at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championships on April 13-23 in Kazan, Russia.

"It was interesting leaving home at 16," Gaul said, "but I'm doing real well."

The NTDP was created in 1996 to further the collegiate, professional and international careers of America's brightest hockey prospects.

In the nine years NTDP players have been eligible for the NHL Entry Draft, 141 players have been selected, including 16 this past season. Five of those taken in 2007 went in the first round, including Patrick Kane and James vanRiemsdyk, the first American-born players ever to be selected No. 1 and No. 2 overall.

The program is as competitive as it is all-encompassing. Players are trained on and off the ice -- there's even a boxing coach -- and are constantly evaluated.

Forward Grant Scott, a Sewickley native who attended Shady Side Academy before joining the NTDP last year, has appeared in 21 games for the Under-18 Team this season but as of Thursday was not scheduled to make the trip to Pittsburgh.

Plum's R.J. Umberger, a first-round pick of Vancouver in 2001 who now plays for the Philadelphia Flyers, is among those who took the NTDP route to college (Ohio State) and ultimately the NHL.

The Penguins' Ryan Whitney (Boston University) and Adam Hall (Michigan State) are also NTDP alums.

Scott, 6-4, 205, has signed a letter of intent to attend Minnesota next season and was rated as the No. 192 North American skater available (projected seventh round) in the 2008 draft by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau.

Gaul, bound for Notre Dame next season, wasn't rated in Central Scouting's mid-season report.

"I'm going to try to play hockey until no one wants me on their team," Gaul said.

Gaul's mother, Margaret, will be preparing dinner for the Under-18 Team tonight.

Tomorrow night, it'll be business as usual, with an anticipated twist.

"I'll be focused on the game," Gaul said, "but I'll probably feel right at home."

CHA Press Release for Feb 23-24

As the season winds down in the CHA, a tight race to the finish for first has occurred. Wayne State has the weekend off and there is only one series of games that are CHA Conference games, Niagara at Alabama-Huntsville. Right now, Bemidji State stands alone at #1 with 25 points on the season, with RMU and Niagara close behind. RMU is at 20 points on the season, but could be tied with Niagara if the Purple Eagles sweep the Chargers, then they will be tied at 2nd place with RMU.

Even though RMU and Bemidji State aren't playing conference games this weekend, RMU is at home vs the U.S. Nat. U-18 Team and BSU is traveling to the 2nd ranked team in the Nation, North Dakota. These games are just as important to the CHA, as the pair of games that could help layout the final outcome of the CHA standings. Each year, RMU has taken on the U.S. Nat. U-18 Team, last year skating two a 2-2 tie, and in '05-'06 the Colonials won 6-5. For the CHA, scheduling games against teams that consistently send players to the NHL, most recently Patrick Kane (from U.S. Nat. U-18) and Johnathan Toews (from North Dakota). Both Kane and Toews currently play for the Chicago Blackhawks and have continued to contribute to the growing success of young players in the NHL.

Let's jump back to the current make up of the CHA standings, with Robert Morris and Niagara battling to reach the top (with some help from BSU losses) it does seem that RMU and Niagara will be facing off in the first round of the CHA tournament. It looks like Bemidji State will be able to keep itself positioned for the 1st seed in the CHA tournament with their final CHA games coming up the first weekend of March, against Wayne State .

Once again, just as last year's CHA tournament, anything is possible. Specifically, RMU went into the tournament with a record of 4-5-1 in their last 10 games. Currently, with 5 games remaining, RMU is 4-1 (granted one of their next 5 is an exhibition games this weekend) but the chance to finish on a hot streak is in the Colonials favor. Last year's CHA Champion, Alabama-Huntsville, finished their season with a 5-5 record, to come out of no where and take the Tournament from RMU in an overtime win.

Former Colonial Forward, Aaron Clarke, has been playing in the ECHL this year, with the Wheeling Nailers. He has appeared in 38 of 50 games this season, posting 7 goals and 12 assists, totaling for 19 points.

The Nailers are currently 15th in the American Conference and 7th in the North Division, at 14-31-2 with 33 points on the season.

Also, Joey Olson is currently skating for the Johnston Chiefs of the ECHL. Joey has played in 20 of the Cheif's 50 games this season, putting up 8 goals and 10 assists for 18 points. The Chiefs are 23-23-1 in the North Division of the American Conference. He started the 07-08 season in the MAHL with the Mon Valley Thunder where he played in 22 games where he scored an astounding 49 points (20 goals and 29 assists).

So far, Aaron and Joey have become the 3rd and 4th players to appear in Minor Professional hockey. Former players Doug Conley (Kalamazoo Wings Wings - Total of 7 games, 2006-2007) and former team captain Kurt Wright (Wheeling Nailers - 4 total games, 2005-2006) have also appeared in the minor league hockey ranks.

There have been a few RMU Colonials to top the charts in the National scene this year, this is where they stand in a few categories amongst the rest.

Check the entire list here

Scoring Leaders

Rk	Name	GP	G	A	Pts.	Pt./GM	GW	PP	SH
1	Kevin Porter, Sr, F, Michigan	32	25	23	48	1.50	4	13	1
2	Ryan Cruthers, Sr, F, Robert Morris	29	19	25	44	1.52	2	5	4
	Nathan Gerbe, Jr, F, Boston College	29	22	22	44	1.52	4	8	3
4	Bryan Marshall, Sr, F, Nebraska-Omaha	30	13	30	43	1.43	0	4	0
	Chad Kolarik, Sr, F, Michigan	32	24	19	43	1.34	6	5	4
6	Ryan Lasch, So, F, St. Cloud State	30	20	21	41	1.37	3	10	0
7	Ryan Jones, Sr, F, Miami	32	27	13	40	1.25	7	11	0
8	Joe Whitney, Fr, F, Boston College	30	7	32	39	1.30	1	3	0
9	Chris Margott, Jr, F, Robert Morris	29	14	24	38	1.31	3	6	0

Goals

Rk	Name	GP	G
1	Ryan Jones, Sr, F, Miami	32	27
2	Derek Whitmore, Sr, F, Bowling Green	29	26
3	Kevin Porter, Sr, F, Michigan	32	25
4	Chad Kolarik, Sr, F, Michigan	32	24
5	Nathan Gerbe, Jr, F, Boston College	29	22
	Justin Mercier, Jr, F, Miami	32	22
7	Matt Smith, Sr, F, RIT	29	20
	Ryan Lasch, So, F, St. Cloud State	30	20
9	Ryan Cruthers, Sr, F, Robert Morris	29	19
28	J.T. Wyman, Sr, F, Dartmouth	22	14
	Matt Caruana, Sr, F, Niagara	28	14
	Chris Margott, Jr, F, Robert Morris	29	14

Assists

Rk	Name	GP	A
1	Joe Whitney, Fr, F, Boston College	30	32
2	Bryan Marshall, Sr, F, Nebraska-Omaha	30	30
3	Dan Ringwald, So, D, RIT	30	26
4	Ryan Cruthers, Sr, F, Robert Morris	29	25
5	Chris Margott, Jr, F, Robert Morris	29	24

Power Play Goals

Rk	Name	GP	PPG
1	Mick Lawrence, Sr, F, Nebraska-Omaha	30	13
	Kevin Porter, Sr, F, Michigan	32	13
3	Derek Whitmore, Sr, F, Bowling Green	29	12
	Matt Smith, Sr, F, RIT	29	12
5	Ryan Jones, Sr, F, Miami	32	11
23	Brandon Coccimiglio, Fr, F, Mercyhurst	25	6
	Riley Nash, Fr, F, Cornell	25	6
	Bear Trapp, Jr, F, Sacred Heart	26	6
	Sean Berkstresser, Sr, F, Robert Morris	28	6
	T.J. Oshie, Jr, F, North Dakota	28	6
	Chris Margott, Jr, F, Robert Morris	29	6

Shorthanded Goals

1	Chad Rau, Jr, C, Colorado College	29	5
2	Jean-Marc Beaudoin, So, F, Quinnipiac	28	4
	Ryan Cruthers, Sr, F, Robert Morris	29	4

USCHO.com's Top 40 RPI (Ratings Per Index)

Cracking the Top 40, at #39, the RMU Men's team.

Rk	Team	RPI	Rk	W-L-T	Win %	Rk	SOS
1	Michigan	.6020*	1	25-3-4	.8438	19	.5177
2	North Dakota	.5870	5	19-8-2	.6897	1	.5527
3	Colorado College	.5866	3	21-8-1	.7167	2	.5433
4	Miami	.5807	2	25-6-1	.7969	25	.5087
5	New Hampshire	.5747	4	19-7-2	.7143	11	.5282
6	Denver	.5699	8t	19-10-1	.6500	3	.5432
7	Michigan State	.5539	6	20-8-5	.6818	23	.5113
8	Boston College	.5526	8t	16-7-7	.6500	16	.5202
9	Notre Dame	.5503	7	21-10-3	.6618	22	.5131
10	Minnesota State	.5434	14	16-11-4	.5806	10	.5310
11	Wisconsin	.5384	26	14-12-6	.5312	4	.5408
12	Minnesota-Duluth	.5376	20t	12-10-6	.5357	6	.5383
13	Clarkson	.5346	12	17-10-3	.6167	26	.5072
14	St. Cloud State	.5326	27t	14-13-3	.5167	7	.5379
15	Princeton	.5284	13	15-10-0	.6000	31	.5046
16	Northeastern	.5271	16	14-11-3	.5536	18	.5183
17	Minnesota	.5240	35	12-13-7	.4844	8	.5371
18	Quinnipiac	.5239	11	17-9-4	.6333	43	.4874
19	Providence	.5236	20t	13-11-4	.5357	17	.5196
20	Mass.-Lowell	.5196	20t	13-11-4	.5357	20	.5142
21	Massachusetts	.5180	31t	11-11-6	.5000	12	.5240
22	Michigan Tech	.5178	40	11-14-5	.4500	5	.5404
23	Vermont	.5109	37	10-11-7	.4821	14	.5205
24	Cornell	.5089	19	12-10-3	.5400	36	.4985
25	Boston University	.5085	38	12-14-4	.4667	13	.5224
26	Yale	.5067	15	12-9-4	.5600	41	.4889
27	Niagara	.5065	10	16-8-4	.6429	50	.4611
28	Union	.5056	23t	13-11-5	.5345	38	.4960
29	Harvard	.5051	31t	11-11-3	.5000	27	.5068
30	Nebraska-Omaha	.5039	31t	14-14-4	.5000	30	.5052
31	Bowling Green	.4984	31t	15-15-0	.5000	37	.4978
32	Colgate	.4967	27t	13-12-5	.5167	40	.4900
33	Ferris State	.4958	27t	13-12-5	.5167	42	.4889
34	Northern Michigan	.4952	39	13-16-3	.4531	24	.5093
35	Alaska-Anchorage	.4886	48t	7-16-7	.3500	9	.5349
36	Dartmouth	.4857	41	9-12-4	.4400	33	.5010
37	Bemidji State	.4854	27t	14-13-3	.5167	45	.4750
38	Air Force	.4838	17t	14-11-5	.5500	49	.4617
39	Robert Morris	.4831	23t	14-12-3	.5345	48	.4660
40	Merrimack	.4806	44	10-15-3	.4107	32	.5039

Krach Ratings:

(KRACH is the implementation of a sophisticated mathematical model known as the Bradley-Terry rating system, first applied to college hockey by a statistician named Ken Butler. While the model is sophisticated, and needs a computer to calculate, its essential meaning is actually quite simple.

The key to understanding KRACH is understanding that it's calculated recursively, so that the end result is self-evident by the results. In other words, if you took one team's schedule to date, and played a theoretical "game" for each game already actually played, using the KRACH ratings themselves in order to predict the winner, then the end result would be a theoretical won-loss percentage that matches the team's actual won-loss percentage. Pretty cool.

It is not possible to do any better than that with a completely objective method. Any other method introduces arbitrary-ness and/or subjectivity.)

Rk	Team	KRACH		Record				Sched Strength
		Rating	RRWP	Rk	W-L-T	Win %	Win Ratio	Rk	SOS
1	Michigan	810.4	.8616	1	25-3-4	.8438	5.400	15	150.1
2	North Dakota	620.4	.8292	5	19-8-2	.6897	2.222	1	279.2
3	Colorado College	584.7	.8213	3	21-8-1	.7167	2.529	4	231.1
4	Miami	504.9	.8009	2	25-6-1	.7969	3.923	26	128.7
5	Denver	442.7	.7814	8t	19-10-1	.6500	1.857	3	238.4
6	New Hampshire	436.5	.7792	4	19-7-2	.7143	2.500	11	174.6
7	Michigan State	289.9	.7112	6	20-8-5	.6818	2.143	23	135.3
8	Wisconsin	284.3	.7077	26	14-12-6	.5312	1.133	2	250.9
9	Minnesota State	284.0	.7075	14	16-11-4	.5806	1.385	10	205.1
10	Notre Dame	272.1	.6998	7	21-10-3	.6618	1.957	22	139.1
11	Minnesota-Duluth	263.6	.6940	20	12-10-6	.5357	1.154	7	228.5
12	Boston College	260.2	.6916	8t	16-7-7	.6500	1.857	20	140.1
13	St. Cloud State	238.2	.6752	27t	14-13-3	.5167	1.069	9	222.8
14	Minnesota	215.9	.6565	35	12-13-7	.4844	0.939	6	229.8
15	Michigan Tech	188.5	.6300	40	11-14-5	.4500	0.818	5	230.4
16	Northeastern	179.4	.6202	16	14-11-3	.5536	1.240	18	144.7
17	Clarkson	176.8	.6173	12	17-10-3	.6167	1.609	29	109.9
18	Providence	175.7	.6160	20	13-11-4	.5357	1.154	14	152.3
19	Massachusetts	168.7	.6079	31t	11-11-6	.5000	1.000	12	168.7
20	Mass.-Lowell	164.9	.6033	20	13-11-4	.5357	1.154	19	142.9
21	Princeton	152.4	.5873	13	15-10-0	.6000	1.500	33	101.6
22	Boston University	141.6	.5723	38	12-14-4	.4667	0.875	13	161.9
23	Vermont	138.8	.5681	37	10-11-7	.4821	0.931	17	149.0
24	Quinnipiac	126.1	.5482	11	17-9-4	.6333	1.727	44	72.98
25	Nebraska-Omaha	124.0	.5449	31t	14-14-4	.5000	1.000	27	124.0
26	Alaska-Anchorage	121.2	.5400	48t	7-16-7	.3500	0.538	8	225.0
27	Northern Michigan	112.	.5236	39	13-16-3	.4531	0.829	24	135.2
28	Cornell	108.5	.5170	19	12-10-3	.5400	1.174	37	92.42
29	Harvard	107.9	.5158	31t	11-11-3	.5000	1.000	31	107.9
30	Bowling Green	105.5	.5112	31t	15-15-0	.5000	1.000	32	105.5
31	Yale	104.0	.5082	15	12-9-4	.5600	1.273	41	81.73
32	Union	102.8	.5057	23t	13-11-5	.5345	1.148	40	89.50
33	Ferris State	96.90	.4934	27t	13-12-5	.5167	1.069	39	90.65
34	Niagara	94.59	.4884	10	16-8-4	.6429	1.800	49	52.55
35	Colgate	85.96	.4685	27t	13-12-5	.5167	1.069	43	80.41
36	Merrimack	78.67	.4501	44	10-15-3	.4107	0.697	28	112.9
37	Bemidji State	77.12	.4461	27t	14-13-3	.5167	1.069	45	72.15
38	Maine	76.95	.4456	51	8-17-3	.3393	0.514	16	149.8
39	Dartmouth	74.71	.4395	41	9-12-4	.4400	0.786	36	95.08
40	Alaska	71.14	.4295	48t	8-17-5	.3500	0.538	25	132.1
41	Robert Morris	69.23	.4239	23t	14-12-3	.5345	1.148	48	60.30

"Defensive Player of the Week
Brianne McLaughlin - Junior - Goalie - Sheffield Village, Ohio/Ohio Flames - Robert Morris McLaughlin held the nation’s second-ranked offense to a total of three goals in two games as Robert Morris split at 10th-ranked Wayne State. Friday’s win was the first in RMU history over the Warriors. McLaughlin stopped 26 shots in Friday’s 2-1 victory, and made 21 saves on Saturday. She helped the Colonial penalty killing stop all 10 WSU power-play chances. Wayne State entered the weekend series eighth in the nation in power-play percentage."


Press Release: College Hockey America

The ten finalists for the Lowe's Senior Class Award have been announced and they are:
Mark Dekanich, Colgate, Bryce Hollweg, Army, Peter Mannino, Denver, Marty Mjelleli, St. Cloud State, Justin Pesony, St. Lawrence, Kevin Porter, Michigan, Frank Schiavone, Air Force, Topher Scott, Cornell, Landis Stankievech, Princeton and Mark Van Guilder, Notre Dame.

An early hopeful, RMU's Ryan Cruthers did not make the final list, even though he is having a fantastic year. Congratulations to Ryan to being nominated early on.

This is the second year for the award, last year's winner was Notre Dame goaltender David Brown. Pittsburgh fans got a chance to see Brown at Mellon arena last year, when Notre Dame faced off against Robert Morris in the College Hockey Showcase. Brown is currently in the Pittsburgh Penguins system.

You can read about the Lowe's Senior Class Award here

Inside an article on College Hockey News.com, this was said about the CHA:

Whither CHA

The CHA is expected to fold because it's no longer viable as a four-team league, as Goeb alludes to. It will become a four-team league at the end of the season when Wayne State's program disbands.

Attempts to find other teams to come into the league have failed.

However, CHA commissioner Bob Peters re-opened speculation about other programs coming in. In a radio interview in Bemidji this week, Peters said that the CHA is in "active negotiations" with Atlantic Hockey about bringing in teams, perhaps Mercyhurst and Canisius, to bring the league back to six teams.

This has been talked about before, and it makes sense on some level. Mercyhurst's girls team plays in the CHA. And the two schools are close to current CHA school Niagara.

But Mercyhurst athletic director Craig Barnett remains steadfast in saying his school is staying put.

"I still stand by — we'd like to be part of the solution, but it will need more than just Mercyhurst and Canisius," Barnett said. "With all these rumblings and rumors, I'd like it to be clear, that we are a proud member of Atlantic Hockey and we don't want to leave the AHA. We don't have any intention of leaving.

Goeb did allude, however, to something else possibly being in the works, though he didn't want to be specific.

"Anything is possible. There's a lot of options being discussed. And I do think college hockey will take care of college hockey," Goeb said. "There's not a lot of programs, and they all know each other quite well, the coaches do certainly, and it's a fraternity and they do want to take care of each other."

Said Barnett, "It sounds like the CHA as a whole or some of their members are in the process of making a proposal for absorption into Atlantic Hockey. I have no idea how Atlantic Hockey would react to that. I don't know if it's a total CHA proposal, or just some members. It's survival time for some of those programs."

Said McLeod, "I thought it was pretty much toast, but now ... it's rumbling beyond some coaches rhetoric. The ADs and even presidents are involved."

You can find the article here: CHN, Special Report

According to College Hockey News.com, Niagara Junior forward Les Reaney has decided to leave school and join the Edmonton Oilers organization. He will be going to the AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons.

This season Les has put up a 15 point season (5 goals and 10 assists) playing on the No. 20 ranked team in the nation. The Purple Eagles are currently sitting in 3rd place in the CHA conference, behind Robert Morris and Bemidji State.

Official Niagara Press Release

This article, written in 2006, about the CHA conference and an apparent ammendment to NCAA Championship law 31.3.4.4 (which upholds the automatic bid for the NCAA tourney) which would allow for the CHA conference to keep its 5 team structure without loosing it's automatic bid. However, this has all changed since Wayne State University has decided to end it's Men's Ice Hockey program.

I just thought it would be nice to try and piece the puzzle together as we hope and pray for a resolution. I feel it is important to see where things have gotten to this point.

You can read the article here: CHA Appears Saved
*Once again, this is old news and recent occurrences have changed what might happen*

Inside College Hockey has a good article on a top scoring forward for RMU, Chris Margott. You can read it here: RMU's Second Fiddle is First-Rate

A little out-dated (Jan 18) BSU Press Release

With news that Bemidji State has reached an agreement to play 12 (6 home, 6 away) "non-conference" games with the WCHA, starting in 2010-2011 (teams like Colorado College, North Dakota, Denver and Wisconsin to name a few), this news comes as a surprise since BSU was not granted entry to the WCHA when they attempted to contact them after Air Force left for the Alantic Hockey Conference in 2006.

Change so far: (none)
This could be the best news that the CHA and the remaining four teams have heard in some time (Wayne State Men's program will no longer exist after this year). A few weeks ago, when Robert Morris University was holding a press conference and based on their unwillingness to release any information prior to the announcement, it had been assumed by many, that the RMU Men's program had found a new conference to play in starting next season. Unfortunately, we are still waiting to see or hear what will happen. The only thing I have heard, may be just as much as anyone else, when I sat down with RMU's Head Coach Derek Schooley early in the 07-08 season and asked him what might happen, and he only responded "Don't worry, we will be fine." Nothing has changed since then either. With that said, having one of the top conferences in the nation agreeing to play a strong team, who might become an independent real soon, is good news for RMU, Alabama-Huntsville and Niagara.

There are about three possibilities that could happen for the four remaining teams:
1) Find a new conference to play in
2) Become an independent
3) Drop to Division III

If choice #1 doesn't happen for any of these teams, at least for RMU and Alab-Hunts, they would be crippled. Niagara and Bemidji could possibly survive on their own as independents, especially if Bemidji will be guaranteed 12 games vs the WCHA.

Positive Outlook:
The best way to look at this news of the WCHA gearing up for games with Bemidji is that if the CHA could stay together with four teams, loose it's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the programs could survive if they can also find their own agreements to play competitive teams or conferences for the next few years, until a decision is made about the CHA.

A strong possibility would be to grab two or more Division III teams to add to the CHA (would could explain why things have been so quiet). If you wish to look at teams with great history and great records in Division III, look at the Norwich Cadets who are located in Northfield Vermont, playing in the ECAC conference. Under Head Coach Mike McShane, the Cadets have gone 276-79-13, in 13 seasons. That's pretty damn good if I say so myself. This season alone, the Cadets have posted a 18-5 record. Statistically, they have two guys who could match up pretty well in CHA play:

Name, Yr	GP	G	A	Pts.	Pt/GP	PIM	GW	PP	SH
Nikita Kashirsky, F, Jr	22	16	15	31	1.4091	23	4	3	1
DJ Fimiani, F, So	22	5	25	30	1.3636	6	0	1	0

For that second magical team to join the CHA, how about another team from the ECAC, the Babson Beavers out of Wellesley, Massachusetts. The Beavers are 15-5-3 this season under four year Head Coach, Jamie Rice (70-30-7). The Beavers have a pretty well spread offensive attack, with 5 players with 20 points or more:

Name, Yr	GP	G	A	Pts.	Pt/GP	PIM	GW	PP	SH
Pat McLaughlin, F, Jr	23	12	11	23	1.0000	13	4	2	0
Jason Schneider, F, So	23	11	12	23	1.0000	20	0	2	2
Mike Venit, F, Sr	23	11	11	22	0.9565	8	4	0	0
Shane Farrell, F, So	22	6	16	22	1.0000	0	0	2	0
Brad Baldelli, F, Jr	23	5	16	21	0.9130	20	1	1	0

The Beavers goaltending is another to look at:

Name, Yr	GP	W	L	T	GA	MIN	GAA	SH	SV	SV%
Skylar Nipps, Jr	23	15	5	3	55	1349	2.4469	0	489	.899

Let's hope that something can be done with the CHA, it is a strong conference, that has the opportunity to get stronger and more competitive.

(RMU vs BSU - CHA conference game)
Just a few hours ago, since it is 2:02 am as I write this, the RMU Men's Ice Hockey team took on the Bemidji State Beavers, in the second game of their weekend series. Friday nite, the Colonials skated away with an impressive win, putting them in sole possession of 2nd place in the College Hockey America Conference (CHA). The story Saturday nite, was very different.

RMU came storming out of the gates, putting one in the net just 1:30 into the gave (Kyle Burton- from Margott, from Cruthers). At the 4:45 mark, BSU's Matt Pope answered on a Power Play, and the Beavers never looked back. BSU then scored two more goals, only 1:10 apart, to begin their onslaught of scoring against the Colonials. By the end of the First period BSU was up 4-1....1st PD....4...to...1.

Let's face it, you can't keep up the let's play great on Friday and hand them Saturday on a silver platter, because if you do keep doing that, you'll never play with the big boys out in Ann Arbor (Michigan Wolverines, the #1 team in the land). I'm not saying what's the point, but you have to play more consistent.

Last year's Dr. Jekl, Mr. Hyde of Boucher one nite, and Tuset the other, was fine. When you have that same scenario the next year, but with only one goaltender, you've got trouble, with a major capital "T" (sad Music Man reference). Christian Boucher's season numbers look great, he has a Goals Against Average hovering at 3.03, before last nite's game, he had a nice, 2.95. It's not like the Colonials can turn to Joe Tuset to suit up on the ice, he's too busy coaching the Colonial goaltenders that will one day replace Boucher (Freshman- Jim Patterson and Sophomore-Wes Russell). Russell and Patterson have had their bright spots, but against poor teams.

I'm not even going to contiune to go over the rest of the game from Saturday, it's easier to sum it up as BAD, Terrible, disgusting even. Coach Schooley said it best in our side-ice interview at the second intermission "I want to apologize to everyone watching because this isn't Colonial Hockey..." It's not every day you see a coach apologize for his team not getting the job done.

That's basically what it is right now for these guys, getting the job done. There are two more weekend set of games, next weekend at Niagara and the following weekend versus rival Alabama-Huntsville. If RMU can split the next two weekends picking up 4 points, possibly keeping them at the 2nd place spot, their chances could be a lot better going into the CHA tournament. Relaying on the 5th seed to beat the 1st seed again, wouldn't be the way to go.

Robert Morris has a solid offensive scoring team, I'm not just pointing out Ryan Cruther's season either. The Colonials have a solid offensive attack. However, that doesn't mean anything if you lead the conference in Penalty Minutes and you are out shot in every game you play. The little things are what matter most right now.

Here is the current CHA Standings:
1 Bemidji State - 25pts (11-4-3)
2 Robert Morris - 20pts (9-5-2)
3 Niagara -18pts (8-4-2)
4 Wayne State -10pts (5-10-0)
5 Alab-Hunts -5pts (1-11-3)