Rivalry Weekend: Part I

Here is this week's edition of Clarkson notes.

Bonus material
KARPOWICH HONORED
Freshman goalie Paul Karpowich has come up big this season whenever he's faced one of the top teams in the nation. After helping lead Clarkson to a pair of ties against top-ranked Colorado College early in the season he made 40 saves last Friday to lead the Golden Knights to a 4-2 win over second-ranked Miami (Ohio).
Karpowich was also solid the following night against Ohio State in a 2-0 Clarkson loss and was named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week.
"The team made it really easy for me, everything was from the outside," Karpowich said.
More important that beating a No. 2 team would be, the win over Miami also snapped a school-record, 11-game winless streak (0-9-2).
"That's always nice," Karpowich said. "We were in a pretty bad skid there."
The next big challenge for the freshman, who was drafted by the NHL's St. Louis Blues last summer, is rival St. Lawrence University, Clarkson's opponent for a pair of nonconference games this weekend.
"I've never seen (a Clarkson/SLU game) before," Karpowich said. "You hear stories about how wild they get."

Updated Home/Road Index

*For those new to this, this stat is based on the premise you have to win all home games and pull off a few road wins. At end of year every team will have exactly 22 points more than they have in this index. You get two points for a road win, one for a road tie, you lose one point for a home tie and two points for a home loss. Home wins and road losses are worth zero points*
One other note: Dartmouth has benefitted in this standing by playing seven of its first nine conference games on the road. Since you can only earn points in road games that means the Big Green has only four more conference games left to pick up points.

Dartmouth +8
Princeton +6
Cornell +4
Quinnipiac +3
Yale +2
Harvard +2
St. Lawrence -3
Brown -4
Rensselaer -4
Union -4
Clarkson -5
Colgate -5

Ohio State 2, Clarkson 0

A sluggish first period proved costly for Clarkson tonight in a 2-0 loss to Ohio State in the championship game of the Ohio Hockey Classic.

Here were the five things to watch:
1. Can Clarkson pull off a second straight upset? The Golden Knights beat second-ranked Miami (Ohio) 4-2 in a semifinal Friday night. Ohio State (12-6-1) is not as good on paper as Miami, but still has some impressive numbers. The Buckeyes have won seven straight games, have only allowed four goals in their last three games and has scored 26 goals in their last four. Ohio State also has seven NHL draft picks on the roster (Clarkson has eight). Well, as stated above, Clarkson got off to a bad start and never fully recovered.

2. Will the offense stay hot? Clarkson had its best goal output (4) since it scored six goals on opening night against RIT. The answer to this has to be a big no, it was the first time all year the team was shut out.

3. Beat another hot goalie. Both Miami (Ohio) goalies had impressive numbers going into last night's game and Ohio State has combined to stop 91.3 percent of opposing shots, led by sophomore Dustin Carlson, who has played in 16 games and has a .929 save percentage. See the above comment!

4. Defense. Clarkson needs to improve on the number of shots it allows. Freshman goalie Paul Karpowich was a key factor in Clarkson's win last night, but he was tested by way too many quality shots. Clarkson actually showed improvement in this category. The Buckeyes scored only one goal while Paul Karpowich was on the ice and while they had 34 shots, 15 of those came in the first period.


5. Score first. Clarkson is 2-3-1 when it scores first this year, which isn't that impressive until you consider that the team is 1-7-3 when the opposition scores first. Considering this game is being played on the road against a quality opponent, scoring first and taking the crowd noise out of the game could be a factor. In this game, scoring first really meant something!

Clarkson snaps winless streak vs. No. 2 Miami

Clarkson snapped a school-record, 11-game winless streak (0-9-2) with a 4-2 upset of No. 2 Miami (Ohio) in a semifinal game of the Ohio Hockey Classic in Columbus. The Golden Knights will play either Ohio State or Army in the championship game Saturday.

A few trivia items
*Clarkson is 1-0-2 this season against teams ranked either 1 or 2 nationally and 1-9-2 against the rest of the nation.
*Former Clarkson assistant Jason Lammers is on the Buckeyes coaching staff.
*Clarkson has now gone undefeated in 51 games (47-0-4) when it leads after two periods.

Here were the five things to watch with post-game comments

1. Score first..Clarkson has led after the first period of a game just twice this season and has been outscored 21-10 in the opening period so far this season. The last time Clarkson scored the first goal in a game was Nov. 15 at Dartmouth (a 5-1 loss).
Clarkson achieved this early with a goal from Shea Guthrie (see the note below) just 99 seconds into the contest. Two goals in the first four minutes of the third period also gave the Golden Knights a confidence boost.

2. Get the big three going..Clarkson's top line so far this season has been sophomores Scott Freeman, Lauri Tuohimaa and Brandon DeFazio. The big three I'm referring to here are three players Clarkson expected to see among its leading scorers heading into the season - Chris D'Alvise, Matt Beca and Shea Guthrie. D'Alvise had a productive first weekend of the season but has just six goals and one assist so far. Beca has three goals and two assists and Guthrie has one goal and two assists. It's not known, at this time, if they'll be on the same line, but Clarkson will need these three players to return to past scoring levels to snap out of this funk.
At least one of the big three got going tonight as Guthrie scored the first goal of the game and picked up another assist.

3. Win faceoffs.. Clarkson has missed its senior class from last season in many areas, but it especially has missed Nick Dodge in the faceoff circle. As a team, the Golden Knights have won just 48 percent of faceoffs this season, perhaps one reason why the team is struggling to score goals. Chris D'Alvise has excelled with a 56.7 percent win clip, but nobody else on the squad is over 50 percent.
This didn't go very well for Clarkson, which went 23-40 in tonight's game, but it didn't cost the team.

4. Special teams.. This is almost always one of my five keys but in this game it's going to be a real challenge for Clarkson to come out on top. The Golden Knights have gone 2 for 23 on the power play in their last four games and are just 10 of 91 for the season, ranking 50th in the nation at 11 percent. Miami, on the other hand, has killed 93.8 percent of its penalties.
Clarkson's kill has been better than its power play, at 85.4 percent. But Miami has converted on 20.9 percent of its power-play chances. If Miami wins the special teams area today the winless streak could reach 12.
Statistically this was a draw, as each team scored two goals. But given the stats coming into the game, Clarkson matching Miami in this category was really a plus for the Golden Knights.

5. Defense.. Clarkson may be without senior Phil Paquet again today. He has been struggling with a bad ankle since the Colorado College series. The Golden Knights are allowing 30.7 shots per game and Miami, led by Carter Camper (11 goals-15 assists) can put up goals if you give them that many opportunities. Clarkson has used freshmen Paul Karpowich and Richie LaVeau as goalies in the last three games and the duo has had a 90 percent or higher save percentage in two of the last three. Clarkson also has to cut down on the number of close-range shots it allows, a problem it has had in a handful of recent games.
Not seeing the game (heard it on radio) I can't really comment on how the defense played. However, it did sound like Miami had several shots close in and finished with 42 for the game, including 20 in the third period. Karpowich was up to the challenge, stopping 40 of 42 shots.

Clarkson vs. Colgate

(to view game story check our website tomorrow morning)

Two teams that were in desperate need of a win today had to settle for a tie. Clarkson and Colgate, which each had eight-game winless streaks, skated to a 3-3 tie.

Here were thefive things to watch and how Clarkson did in each category:

* Continue Starr Rink dominance - Clarkson is 6-1-1 in its last 8 games in Colgate's building, although they have not enjoyed as much success against the Raiders in Cheel Arena. That's one odd thing about this series: (At least it wasn't a loss and 6-1-2 in the last nine games at someone else's rink is pretty impressive).

* Lead! - Clarkson has been outscored 32-15 in the first two periods so far this season. Today's game seems like one where it will be vital for either team to take a lead. Clarkson has led after the first period just twice this season and has only had the lead after two once, in the season opener. Colgate is 0-5 when the opposition scores first and the Raiders have been outscored 25-12 in the last two periods of games and overtime this year: (Clarkson did better than they've done in recent games in this area, it was 3-3 after two. But Clarkson never held the lead in this game and has seemed to play from behind almost all the time in the last month).

* Special teams - Both teams have struggled in this category this season, though Colgate has fared a little better on the power play. Whoever wins this category today just may win the game: (Clarkson had a slight edge here with two power-play goals compared to Colgate's one).

* Offense - in the past, Colgate/Clarkson games have always been low-scoring affairs. Clarkson has struggled to score goals of late, but if there was ever a team you could snap out of a slump against it appears to be the Raiders. Colgate has given up 14 goals in the last three games, including five against SLU Friday: (Chris D'Alvise came up with two goals and Clarkson put shots on net which led to some nice goals, especially Lauri Tuohimaa's redirection of a shot by Julien Cayer for the first goal).

*Goaltending and defense - Clarkson will be missing leader Phil Paquet again today after he reinjured his ankle Friday night. But the Golden Knights need to step up on defense and assist goalie Paul Karpowich with shots he can stop. Karpowich has had a very impressive freshman season, but the team as a whole has saved 90 percent of shots just once in the last seven games and in two of the last seven games Clarkson's goalies have had save percentages below 80 percent. That's not all the goalie's fault, some shots they've had no chance, but Clarkson needs to find a way to cut down the opposition's quality scoring chances: (Mixed results here. It's hard to really judge the defense with Tyrell Mason and Mark Borowiecki each missing the game, but all three of Colgate's goals were plays were the player was able to get right outside of the crease. Clarkson gave up 15 shots in the first period but then settled down and allowed only 13 in the next two. Colgate had five shots in overtime, but that was more because they started the period on a power play and the momentum stayed their way).

REMINDER: I will not be posting on this blog again until Jan. 2 prior to the first game of the Ohio State game.

Merry Christmas!

Clarkson vs. Cornell

Clarkson's winless streak was extended to eight games (0-7-1) after Cornell picked up a 4-1 win over the Golden Knights in Lynah Rink Friday night. The Big Red's defense was impressive, holding Clarkson to just 14 shots on goal.

Here were the five key things to watch in the game (I posted these before the game this time, now updating how Clarkson did in each category)

* Play a solid first two periods - Clarkson has led just once after the second period all year, in the season opener, and has been outscored 29-15 in the first two periods: This didn't happen as Cornell scored two goals in the first and then added another in the third to build a 3-0 lead heading into the final period.

* Special teams - Clarkson went 3-for-8 on the power play last weekend, but Cornell is 4-0 if it scores a power-play goal: It wasn't Clarkson's night on special teams either. Clarkson went 0 for 4 on the power play and had three power plays in the second period, yet picked up just two total shots on goal that period. Cornell went 1 for 4 on the power play.

* Deal with Lynah - Clarkson won 4-2 last year at Cornell, but is just 4-13 in the last 10 years at Lynah Rink, including three postseason series: Make that 4-14 now.

* Wake up the offense - Clarkson is averaging just 2.3 goals-per-game: No real offense to speak of in this game, but Cornell will slow down a lot of teams. The Big Red aren't a team you want to face when you are in an offensive slump.

* Will Scott Freeman and Bryan Rufenach stay hot? Freeman has scored in four straight games and Rufenach has picked up four points (2 goals-2 assists) in the last three games: Freeman had just one shot, but again, none of Clarkson's forwards were really able to do much against Cornell's defense, except goal-scorer Jon Marshall and Shea Guthrie, who had four shots on goal. Rufenach had one shot on goal and according to the radio broadcast had a solid game.

Photo Albums

Our website has links to some photo albums of recent Clarkson games.

Here is a link to extra shots from the Canisius game.

Here is a link to extra shots from the Princeton game.

Here is a link to extra shots from the Yale game.

Timeout with the Times

Here is today's question and answer session with Tim Marks..

Here are the answers that didn't make the cut:

WDT: You had a hat trick last year against Dartmouth. What was that game like
for you and did you ever expect to get a hat trick in your career?
Marks: It was definitely one of the highlights of my hockey career, it was just one of those games where everything I happened to get on net found its way its way in. I always knew that I had the ability to score goals but a hat trick is tough in college hockey let alone the ECAC where all the games are such low scoring, Im not going to say I expected it but I always knew that it was possible.

WDT: Your first year here you won a league tournament championship and both
years here you've been in the NCAA Tournament. Things are starting a little
slower this year. How are you and your teammates handling the early
adversity?
Marks: I think for the most part everyone is handling it well, in more than a couple games we could have easily been up but found ourselves down and that is just the way the our luck is going right now we just have to continue to work hard everyday and get better everyday because at the end of the season I truly believe that you will see us there and we will be a better team for this slump we are in right now.


WDT: One of your coaches, J.F. Houle, used to play at Clarkson. If you were to
come back here 10 years from now which one of your current teammates could
you see as a Clarkson assistant and why?
Marks: I am going to say Tyrell Mason. Mase definitely has the coach like mentality he is our captain right now as was houley when he played and he is a hard-nosed intense guy who wants to get better everyday and tries to make everyone around him better as well.


WDT: How often did you get to attend Clarkson or SLU games as a kid and do you
have any favorite memories or favorite players?
Marks: Well I know I am probably going to hear about it but I watched alot more SLU games as a kid than I did Clarkson games, we used to come 4 or 5 times a year with the teams I played on or just by oursleves. I am going to say one of my favorite players was Willie Mitchell though I remember him scoring from behind center ice in the ECAC semi-finals on TV when I was in the hospital with appendicitis.


WDT: What would you like to tell people from Watertown about Division I hockey
and what do you feel they may be missing if they never make the one-hour
drive to catch a game?
Marks: First off the speed and finesse of the game is something that people do not realize about hockey until you watch it in person especially college hockey, everyone on the ice can skate and thats what our game is all about speed. Second of all the atmosphere is what really gets alot of people that watch there first college hockey games and at cheel its a little something more, at times its hard to hear yourself think on the ice the students and are fans are so supportive and thats probably the best thing in my mind about playing college hockey and especially at Clarkson.

WDT:You had to leave home fairly early to go play junior hockey in Canada. Was
that tough or was it a pretty easy decision to make?
Marks: It really wasn't that hard of a decision to make ever since I started playing hockey at a competive level I knew it was what I wanted to do and in order to continue to get to the highest possible level of hockey I can get to it was something that I had to do.

Christmas Vacation

Just a note for the readers of this blog..I will be out of town starting Sunday the 7th until New Year's. There will be updates on Friday and Saturday's games, but to read Saturday's game story you'll have to check our website (watertowndailytimes.com)on Sunday.
There will be no updates during the two games at Bowling Green, but you can read stories on those games on our website.
I will be back with posts starting with the first game of the Ohio State Tournament on Jan. 2.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Clarkson Notes

Here is this week's edition of Clarkson notes..

We also did a 'Timeout with the Times' with Tim Marks. It should be on our website sometime today, but tomorrow I'll post the answers he gave that we had to cut for space reasons.