OPENING FACE-OFF: Colgate returns home to face one of its best non-league rivals of all-time, Army, Friday evening. This contest kicks off a streak of four consecutive regular-season games in the friendly confines of Starr Rink. Game time is set for a non-traditional 7:30 start. The Raiders will then host Niagara the following evening at 8 p.m. This weekend marks the second time the Raiders have played on back-to-back nights this particular weekend.
MEET THE HEAD COACH: Don Vaughan is in his 17th year at the helm of the Colgate Raiders. The 1984 graduate of St. Lawrence enters the campaign as the program's all-time winningest coach with a 270-255-61 mark. On February 16, 2008, he became the all-time winningest coach with his 252nd victory as Colgate blanked Union 8-0. On November 11, 2007, the President of Colgate, Rebecca S. Chopp, announced the creation of the Donald F. Vaughan Endowed Coaching Chair for Men's Hockey.
HALLOWEEN WEEKEND RECORD: Colgate is 3-3 all-time in games played on October 30 and 31. The Raiders haven't strayed away from home on these evenings with all six played at Starr Rink. Colgate is 2-1 all-time on October 30, but 1-2 on Oct. 31. The last time the Raiders played on back-to-back evenings on these dates, they got a weekend split. Back in 1998, Colgate downed Army 4-3 on the 30th, but fell the next night 3-1 to St. Lawrence. This will be the third ever meeting between Colgate and Army on the 30th. The Black Knights won the last clash in Hamilton back in 2004 – a 3-2 victory.
THIS DATE IN COLGATE HOCKEY:
10-30-94: Ron Fogarty netted two goals and Dave Debusschere posted the game winner in the second period as Colgate rallied from a one-goal deficit in a 5-2 victory over UMass-Lowell at Starr Rink. Trailing 1-0, the Raiders unloaded with five consecutive goals in a game that featured a combined 60 penalty minutes. Dave Brenzavich saved 32 shots in the win, including 15 in the opening frame.
10-31-97: Tim Brokaw scored twice and Darryl Campbell posted a goal and two assists as Colgate downed visiting Northeastern 6-3 at Starr Rink. Dan Brenzavich turned aside 23 saves in the victory. Colgate rushed out to a 3-0 lead in the opening period in the victory. Kevin Jones assisted on three goals, while current St. Louis Blues Andy McDonald tallied two helpers in the win versus the Huskies.
SERIES RECORDS: Friday's meeting with Army will mark the 57th meeting between the two squads and first since October 21, 2006. Colgate holds a 36-16-4 all-time record in the series versus the Black Knights. The first ever meeting happened in West Point back in 1916-1917. Colgate traveled to Army 22 consecutive times before the Cadets made the trip to Hamilton for the first time in 1962. The Raiders are 15-1-2 in the last 18 meetings, including a 6-1 victory in West Point on October 21, 2006. The Raiders are 12-4 all-time in one-goal games and are 2-0-4 all-time in overtime contests.
While Colgate's series with Niagara hasn't been nearly as long, it has been nothing but nail biting to the spectators and players. After 10 meetings, the series is deadlocked at 4-4-2 and nine of the 10 previous clashes have been decided by one goal or less. The Raiders are 1-1-2 all-time versus Niagara in games that go into overtime and that includes the last meeting in the 2009-2010 season opener, a 4-4 tie at the Dwyer Center in Niagara Falls. Colgate will attempt to end a three-game winless skid against the Purple Eagles, a stretch in which its 0-2-1. The Raiders' last prevailed over Niagara on October 12, 2006 with a 2-1 victory in Rochester.
THE OPPONENTS IN BRIEF: Army heads to Hamilton with a 0-4-1 record. The Black Knights already have a mutual common opponent to Colgate in Nebraska-Omaha. Army fell 6-4 in its season opener at the Qwest Center in Omaha. Last weekend, Army went 0-1-1 with Mercyhurst. Eight different players have accounted for the 13 goals thus far with Cody Omilusik (3-3-6) serving as the top offensive threat at this early juncture. Mike Hull (2-2-4), Bryant Skarda (2-1-3) and Eric Sefchik (2-1-3) are the mother multiple goal scorers. Speaking of Hull, he leads the nation with two short-handed scores in his five outings. Army has used three goalies with Jay Clark (0-3-1, 4.52 gaa) seeing the brunt of the action.
Niagara, 0-3-1 on the season, visits Cornell for Big Red's season opener Friday evening. In their last performance, the Purple Eagles gave national power Michigan a run for its money last Thursday evening at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor in a 3-2 loss to the Wolverines. All four of Niagara's games have been determined by one goal or less and two of them have gone into overtime. The Purple Eagles have nine different goal scorers with Tyler Gotto (2-3-5), Ryan Olidis (2-1-3) and Paul Zanette (2-1-3) leading the way. Both goalies have seen action for Niagara. Adam Avramenko (0-1-1, 3.70 gaa, .875 save percentage) has seen the majority of action, including getting the start against Colgate in the first meeting.
LAST TIME VERSUS THE PURPLE EAGLES: Colgate rallied from a 4-1 deficit midway through the second period in a 4-4 overtime draw at the Dwyer Center on October 9, 2009. The Raiders received goals from Francois Brisebois, Brian Day and Wade Poplawski to erase the three-goal deficit and played in their eighth consecutive overtime dating back to last season. Day scored his second of the game at 16:14 of the third to pull the Raiders back within one before Poplawski knotted the game with 1:21 left in regulation. Charles Long saved 25 for Colgate while Adam Avramenko turned aside 26 in the tie. The teams combined to go scoreless on 11 power play attempts.
CAREER SCORING VERSUS NIAGARA: While no Raiders have scored a point against Army, the same can't be said for Niagara. Seven active players have at least posted a point in their careers versus the Purple Eagles. Brian Day (2 goals) and David McIntyre (1 goal, 1 assist) are the lone two to have more than a single point. Francois Brisebois (1 goal), Wade Poplawski (1 goal), Nick Prockow (1 assist), Kevin McNamara (1 assist), Jason Williams (1 assist) are the other remaining point producers on the roster.
LAST WEEKEND RECAP: The Raiders fell to #13 UMass-Lowell 5-3, last Friday evening at Tsongas Arena. The River Hawks rallied from a 3-2 deficit with three goals in a span of 3:55 in the third to pull off the victory. Christian Long, Francois Brisebois and Robbie Bourdon each tallied markers for the Raiders, while Alex Evin saved 30 in goal for Colgate. After having Saturday off, the Raiders returned to action Sunday afternoon and fell to U.S. National Under 18 4-1. David McIntyre scored at 14:15 of the third to end the shutout bid.
FRESHMEN IMPACT: Entering Friday's game with Army, three different Colgate freshmen have scored their first collegiate goals in three consecutive games. Kurtis Bartliff netted his first goal as a Raider in a 1-1 tie against then #15 Nebraska-Omaha in the first game or the series. In the second game, it was Christian Long's turn to score. Finally, in Colgate's 5-3 loss at #13 UMass-Lowell, Robbie Bourdon connected for his first marker as a Raider.
SOLID GOLD: Colgate doesn't number its lines, but it distinguishes them by colors. The line of Adam Corrin, Christian Long and Matt Firman has accounted for two of the team's last four goals and Colgate's lone power play goal of the year. Long has scored twice – against UNO and UMass-Lowell, while Firman has already surpassed his point total from a year ago with two assists. Corrin tallied his first point as a Raider at Tsongas Arena versus UMass-Lowell with an assist on Long's goal.
PK STILL RANKED AMONG TOP 20: Despite giving up two power play goals to UMass-Lowell, the Colgate penalty kill ranks 13th in the country heading into this weekend's play. The Raiders have successfully killed off 24 of 27 (.889) opponent power plays. The University of Alaska leads the country with a perfect 100% penalty kill (13-13).
CLOSING IN ON 100: With one assist in the two-game series against UNO, David McIntyre is within five points of reaching the century milestone at Colgate. His assist on Kurtis Bartliff's goal in the first game was his 50th of his career. When he reaches that plateau, he would become the 48th player in the program's history to reach that barrier.
ANOTHER STREAK SNAPPED: When Nebraska Omaha defeated Colgate 4-1 two Saturday's ago at Starr Rink, it snapped an amazing streak of consecutive games decided by one goal or less. The last 11 games of the 2008-09 season and the first three of the 2009-2010 campaign were decided by one or fewer goals. The last Colgate game that was determined by more than one goal was a 4-2 defeat at St. Lawrence, January 31, 2009. Colgate went 6-4-4 during this stretch. Twenty five of Colgate's games in 2008-09 were determined by one or fewer goals – Colgate went 9-9-7 overall in those types of games. ?
FIRST REGULATION VICTORY IN A WHILE: When the final horn sounded at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, Colgate had won its first game in regulation since its 1-0 victory on Valentines Day (February 14, 2009) at Dartmouth's Thompson Arena.
A RECAP OF THE OVERTIME STREAK: Colgate entered the 2009-2010 campaign having played seven consecutive overtime games, which dated back to the end of 2008-09 season. The Raiders went 3-2-2 down the stretch in these games – the two losses coming to Quinnipiac in a best of three series in a first round ECAC Hockey Tournament clash in Hamden, Conn. The streak began at home with a 2-2 tie versus Union on February 20. Colgate would go on to beat Rensselaer (2-1); tie Brown 3-3 in Providence and then upset #11 Yale (3-2) in front of a national TV audience in New Haven all before the meetings with the Bobcats. Quinnipiac won the opener 3-2; then Colgate rallied from a two-goal deficit late in the game for a 5-4 victory to force a third game. The Bobcats prevailed 4-3 in the final game of the series. The Raiders stretched the streak to eight with a 4-4 tie at Niagara last Friday evening, but was broken the following night in a 3-2 regulation victory at RIT.
?SHOULD OVERTIME HAPPEN: If it happens, eyes need to focus on two of Colgate's best ever goal scorers in overtime in David McIntyre and Austin Smith. McIntyre is tied for second all-time with three over-time game winners. He needs one more to tie Jon Smyth for first. One of McIntyre's goals lifted Colgate by Clarkson in the third and final game of an ECAC Hockey quarterfinal as the Raiders advanced to the Final Four as the seventh seed. Smith is tied for sixth having scored two overtime winners as a freshman last season versus Lake Superior State and Quinnipiac. McIntyre has six overtime points (3 goals, 3 assist) and five of them came last season. The only game he didn't record a point in a game winner was Colgate's 5-4 victory over Quinnipiac in the second game of the three-game series. ? ?
BACK-TO-BACK MULTI GOAL GAMES: Colgate got a pair of two goal games at Niagara and RIT in the form of Brian Day and Austin Smith respectively. Last year, the Raiders received multi-goal games in back to back outings twice. Day scored twice in a 4-1 victory over Bentley (10/17) and then posted his first hat trick versus Robert Morris (10/24). David McIntyre and Jason Fredricks duplicated the feat in early January as McIntyre netted two against Vermont (1/3) and Fredricks lit the lamp twice versus Lake Superior State (1/8).
A NICE WELCOME BACK FROM WADO AND KMAC: Both Kevin McNamara and Wade Poplawski returned to the Colgate's lineup after sustaining season ending injuries last year. The duo combined for the Raiders' fourth goal to force overtime at Niagara as Poplawski netted his fourth career goal – first since the season opener to the 2008-09 season versus UMass Lowell. It was McNamara's first point since assisting on David McIntyre's game winner in double overtime as Colgate upset Clarkson in a three-game series to advance to the ECAC Hockey semifinals.
PRESEASON HONORS: David McIntyre has been named a pre-season first team all-ECAC Hockey honoree by the coaches and media. In addition, the senior has been named as a preseason first team all-American by Inside College Hockey and once again named to the all-College Hockey News first team. In 2008-09, McIntyre finished with 21 goals and 43 points, both ranked among the leaders nationally. His point total was the highest for a single season since Andy McDonald's 58 in 1999-2000. He was a first team all-league honoree; a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, a first team AHCA/Reebok Eastern All-American, a first team all-American by Inside College Hockey and was a selection to the all-College Hockey News team. In addition, McIntyre is one of 20 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for men's ice hockey. ?
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GETTING DRAFTY: Colgate has six NHL draft picks on its 2009-2010 roster. David McIntyre was drafted in the fifth round of the 2006 Draft by the Dallas Stars. Last year, his rights were traded twice in two months and now stands property of the New Jersey Devils. Corbin McPherson (New Jersey, 3rd, 2007), Brian Day (New York Islanders, 6th, 2006), Austin Smith (Dallas Stars, 5th, 2007), Jeremy Price (Vancouver Canucks, 4th, 2009), and Thomas Larkin (Columbus Blue Jackets, 5th, 2009) round out the Raiders' draft picks. ?
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BLUELINE SHUFFLE: Colgate will have a revamped defense for the 2009-2010 season. Don Vaughan's squad lost five defensemen to graduation that combined to play close to 600 collegiate games. With the return of Corbin McPherson, Wade Poplawski and Kevin McNamara, the Raiders have 132 games of collegiate experience. Newcomers will need to make an impact on the blueline this season. ?
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OH BROTHER: Charles and Christian Long are the first set of brothers to play for Don Vaughan at the same time. They hail from Cleveland Heights, Ohio and played junior hockey for the Brockville Braves of the CJHL. Charles and Christian have played three years together at different levels including helping St. Edwards High School to an Ohio State High School title.
MORE ON OVERTIME: Colgate took the University of Minnesota out of the record books in one category – overtime appearances in a single season. During the 2007-08 season, the Gophers broke a then national record with 16 overtimes in 45 games. Fast forward a season later, Colgate bested U of M's mark by three. The Raiders tied the record on March 1, 2009 with a 3-2 overtime victory at 11th-ranked Yale. In the first game of the opening round of ECAC Hockey Tournament, Colgate eclipsed the record in a 3-2 loss at Quinnipiac. All three games versus the Bobcats went longer than the prescribed amount. The previous single-season overtime record at CU was 10 set twice, most recently in the 2007-08 season. The Raiders had six overtime victories, which tied the NCAA Division I record for a single season.
