Clarkson Notes

Our paper does not publish on Thursday, Thanksgiving, so we will have no Clarkson notes this week.

I have a few items I'll post here, instead.

*CONSIDER 1999*
After two straight NCAA Tournament appearances it might be natural for Clarkson fans to panic a bit, seeing the team with a 2-6-2 overall record 10 games into a season.
While it is likely that repeating as ECAC Hockey regular-season champions is unlikely, given that five of the losses are in conference play, Clarkson has set a precedent in the past of showing you can overcome a bad start to have a pretty good year.
Consider the 1998-99 squad. That team, too, was coming off two very successful years. The 1997 team was No. 2 in the nation at the end of the regular season and the program had played in back-to-back ECAC title games, although it lost both.
But the 1999 squad, led by sophomores Erik Cole, Willie Mitchell and Kent Huskins, got off to a horrible start. The team lost its first four games (two at home to Northern Michigan and two at North Dakota). It beat Yale in the conference opener, then dropped two more games, losing at home to Princeton then losing 3-1 at St. Lawrence.
So where did that team go after its 1-6 start? Clarkson finished with a 25-11-1 overall record, an ECAC regular season and tournament championship and a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals, where it lost to eventual national champion Maine.
*RANDOM NOTES ABOUT THIS WEEKEND*
-Phil Paquet, who has been injured since the Nov. 24 game against Colorado College, was supposed to begin skating this week but I'd imagine he wouldn't be used for at least one more week.
-Clarkson has an 8-0 record at Cheel Arena against Atlantic Hockey Foes.
-Canisius is a Catholic school in Buffalo. The Golden Griffins are 5-5-2 and are tied for second in Atlantic Hockey with a 4-3-1 record. The only common foe the teams have had is Niagara, which defeated both.
-Clarkson is just 1-3-2 at Cheel Arena so far this season.
-Clarkson has not had a lead at the end of the first period yet this season.
-Coach George Roll could win his 100th game at Clarkson with a weekend sweep.
-These will be the last games at Cheel Arena for Clarkson until the ESPNU game against St. Lawrence University on Jan. 11.