Stats are Regular Season Conference Games
Offense - 2.56 G/GM (6th)
Defense - 2.72 G/GM (6th)
PIM - 6.8/GM (10th)
Power Play - 21.2% (3rd)
Penalty Kill - 92.3% (1st)
Special Teams Net - +8 (1st)
Offense - 2.78 G/GM (3rd)
Defense - 1.56 G/GM (1st)
PIM - 9.2/GM (6th)
Power Play - 12.3% (9th)
Penalty Kill - 87.7% (2nd)
Special Teams Net - +4 (4th)
Wesleyan Preview Hamilton Preview Hamilton Video Preview
The Lowdown: There's a First Time for Everything
Wesleyan and Hamilton met in the NESCAC playoffs once, and only once, six years ago in the Quarterfinals, when the eighth seed Cardinals ousted the top seed Continentals. A lot has happened in six years: Norm Bazin took the UMass-Lowell job and was replaced by Rob Haberbusch as Conts bench boss; the NESCAC -ECAC-East Interlock ended; then Cardinals Nick Craven and Keith Buehler graduated and saw their pro careers come and go; snap chat became a thing, apparently; and then there's American poli...ok, let's stop there.
But one thing has remained the same: neither team has ever made the NESCAC finals. The Cardinals lost in the semis in 2011 and neither team has gotten past the Quartefinals since. As we said in the other semi preview, there are no ties in playoffs, so something's gotta give.
Both teams punched their ticket to championship weekend by taking care of business against Maine. The Cardinals traveled to the Pine Tree State to become the first NESCAC team to beat Colby this season in Waterville, downing the second seed Mules 5-4. Hamilton took care of business at home against Bowdoin, 4-2.
In the head-to-heads this season, Hamilton blanked Wesleyan 2-0 in Middletown in December and the two teams skated to a 3-3 tie at Sage in January. NESCAC Player of the Year Evan Buitenhuis started in net for both games, while Dawson Sprigings made the start in December for the Cardinals and George Blinick got the nod on the road in January. The frosh has had better stats this season but as expected, the senior Sprigings started in net in the Quarterfinals.
This week junior forward Brandon Willett joined fellow Cont Buitenhuis on the first team All-NESCAC (blueliner Carkeek made second team) but Willett is doneso with a leg injury. We thought former All-NESCAC first teamer Robbie Murden and 99 point scorer was out as well, but it appears there is a chance Murden will play, at least according to former Conts captain Doug Familetti ('94).
With Murden potentially out and Willett definitely out, the Conts will look to leading point scorer Neil Conway and sophomores Jason Brochu and Rory Gagnon, who have shown considerable progression in their second season in collegiate hockey.Murden should be back for the semi finals and maybe this weekend. @ContinentalPuck https://t.co/puMad1PyAg— Doug Famigletti (@DougFamigletti) February 21, 2017
On the other side, Walker Harris was named NESCAC Rookie of the Year and sophomore d-man Chad Malinowski made 2nd Team All-NESCAC, in addition to junior Dylan Holze being named NESCAC Player of the Week for the Quarterfinals. The Cardinals have finally provided some help this season for senior James Kline, who leads the team in points (9-16-25). No one is in double digit goals, but three Cards have three 20+ point scorers (Kline, Harris, Holze) this season, while Kline led the entire team in points with 17 in each of the past two seasons.
The Cardinals won a wild back-and-forth affair last weekend but to pull up a second straight upset they'll have to hunker in for a lower scoring affair. Hamilton hasn't given up more than three goals in a game this season and you'd have to think that Buitenhuis will be dialed in for this one. The Cardinals do have a 7-0-1 mark when leading after one, so they have shown an ability to hold on when taking a lead early. The Conts don't have much experiencing trailing early with only a 1-1-2 mark when trailing after one.
Sage has never seen a NESCAC semis before, and it should be a good crowd on hand at the second oldest rink in college hockey. Due to the limited capacity at the Sage and the expected crowd, Hamilton will be having viewing parties of the NSN feed for those that can't get in the building.
What does a song about airport racial profiling on both sides of the pond that includes an Illiad reference have to do with hockey? Well, we're in the NESCAC, so I'm sure you'll figure it out. Here's Wesleyan alum Heems and Riz MC (the main character in The Night Of) aka Swet Shop Boys with T5.
No comments:
Post a Comment