Pine Tree Preview: The Final regular season weekend in Maine

by Benet Pols 
The last place Tufts Jumbos (2-12-2) and the 8^th place Connecticut College Camels (3-10-3) caravan into Maine for the pivotal final weekend of NESCAC regular season play. A resurgent Colby (3-11-2) is primed to nab one of the last two play-off spots, while Bowdoin (11-2-2) seeks to maintain its position atop the standings. Each of the top five teams in the NESCAC still have a realistic shot at claiming first place by the time all the games have been played.

Tufts senior Dylan Plimmer  (F, Sr.) (8-13-21 in 22 games) will be the fourth Concannon Award finalist to play in the Pine Tree State this weekend. He joins Colby’s Nick Lanza (F, Jr.) (12-13-25 in 22 games) and the Bowdoin duo of Daniel Weiniger  (F, Sr.) (14-10-24 in 21 games) and Ollie Koo (D/F, Jr.)  (12-12-24 in 19 games). The Concannon award goes to the best American born men's hockey player that plays for a New England College in Div II or III.

A Tale of Two Layoffs

The Polar Bears and White Mules, traveling partners for the NESCAC season, had their bye-weekend in late January. The impact of the ten-day layoffs couldn’t have been more different.

Colby, given up for dead and last in NESCAC at the time, took a 9-2 shellacking at Williams on January 19^th. Ten days later the Mules picked up the pieces with a non-conference tie against in-state rival UNE, notching the tying goal with just six seconds to go and surviving overtime. Since then they’ve gone 2-1-1 in the conference.  A big 5-1 win at home against Hamilton--also contending for one of the last two playoff spots--rekindled the Mules postseason hopes. Though Colby only picked up one point the next night while hosting Amherst, the 3-3 draw must have felt like a win. Down 3-0 in the third period, the Mules netted 3 goals in just over three minutes to draw even and then hold on for the tie. A long weekend in stormy Connecticut yielded just a 7-2 loss at Trinity, but in a game rescheduled for neutral ice at Exeter NH, Colby pulled off another big 4-2 win earlier this week against  a streaky Wesleyan team that has already solidified the six seed in the NESCAC playoffs.

Of the Mules’ 8 conference points, 5 were earned in last two weeks.

The Polar Bears meanwhile came off their layoff with a moribund first period against Amherst, giving up four first period goals before succumbing 6-3. With a win over Hamilton and a tie with Wesleyan, Bowdoin is just 1-1-1 since January 22^nd. The Polar Bears' match-up with Trinity was postponed due to the storm of February 8^th.  It’s been rescheduled for this coming Monday, February 18^th at North Andover, MA.

This Weekend’s Games

The competition this weekend couldn’t be more suited to 9^th place Colby (3-11-2) slipping into a playoff spot. In 8^th place, Connecticut College (3-10-3) holds just a one-point advantage over the Mules. Colby is at home and Colby is hot; the White Mules have recently played well against solid competition. Meanwhile, the Camels only recent conference success has been wins against cellar-dweller Tufts (2-12-2). With 7^th place Hamilton having to host Middlebury & Williams, both at 10-4-2, Colby could find themselves as high as 7^th by the end of the weekend.

Earlier this year Colby beat Tufts (5-2 win, Dec 8) and lost to Connecticut College (7-2 loss, Dec 7).

Tufts and Connecticut College could be just what the doctor ordered for the Polar Bears. Back on December 8^th, Bowdoin notched a season high 7 goals in a 7-1 win against the Camels in New London. A day earlier they’d beaten Tufts 5-3. The results haven’t been great for Bowdoin in February. The long layoff followed by storm postponements stalled any rhythm they had generated.

Players to watch

Of course it’s a Concannon weekend in Waterville and in Brunswick, but the hosts will also be honoring their seniors so there will be plenty to watch, including the out-of-town scoreboard.

Tufts Concannon nominee Plimmer leads the team in points (8-13-21), but junior Kyle Gallegos (F, Jr.) paces the team with 10 goals. (10-7-17)

Connecticut College. The future looks good for the Camels. Their leading goal scorer is freshman Tim Dipietro (F,  Fr.) with 9 goals and sophomore JC Cangelosi has 20 points (5-15-20).

Colby. Concannon semi-finalist Nick Lanza (F, Jr.) continues to lead the team in scoring (12-13-25) and has put up good numbers during Colby’s recent five game streak (2-5-7), but he’s had plenty of help this February. Senior Cory McGrath got seven points (2-5-7) and junior Ben Chwick  added 6 (3-3-6) during the same time.

Bowdoin. For Bowdoin playmaker Colin Downey  (F/D, Jr.) (6-11-17 in 15 games) hasn’t played since being boarded against Hamilton on February 2^nd.  It’ll be interesting to see if he joins Concannon semi-finalists Ollie Koo(D/F, Jr.) and Captain Daniel Weiniger (F, SR.) for the Polar Bear’s power-play.

The out-of-town scoreboard
Everyone will be watching what goes on in Clinton, New York where Hamilton hosts Middlebury and Williams.  The Conts will be fighting for their playoff life against two teams that still have legitimate shots at first place.  The games Amherst hosts against the Panthers and Ephs are of less interest to Colby, but two wins by any of these three teams could land them in first place—depending on Bowdoin’s weekend--while two losses will have them traveling for the first round of the playoffs.

Likewise, Trinity plays its home-and-home series with travel partner Wesleyan. The Cardinals are firmly entrenched in 6^th place (by virtue of owning the tie-breaker with Hamilton, the only team that can catch them from behind), but the Bantams could finish as high as first or as low as fifth.

There is at least one scenario in which the Bowdoin-Trinity game, now rescheduled for this coming Monday, could be for the regular season title.