With seniors finishing their final collegiate seasons, it’s hard not to notice the impact of the senior class.
Taking a look at the national statistics, four of the top five scorers in the nation are seniors. St. Lawrence senior Greg Carey is second with 1.56 points per game, Kevin Hayes of Boston College is third with 1.50 points per game, Bentley’s Brett Gensler is fourth at 1.32 ppg and Boston College’s Bill Arnold is fifth at 1.29. BC junior Johnny Gaudreau leads the nation with 1.88 point per game. New Hampshire’s Kevin Goumas is the only other senior in the top ten as he is seventh with 1.29 points per game.
In addition, among defensemen, two of the top four scorers in the nation are seniors. St. Lawrence’s Justin Baker is third at 0.94 points per game and Union’s Mat Bodie is fourth at 0.91 ppg. Bentley junior Steve Weinstein leads the nation’s defensemen at 1.0 points per name.
Among goalies, Massachusetts-Lowell’s Doug Carr is the highest ranking senior as he is second in goals against average at 1.80 goals against per game and second in save percentage (.936). Notre Dame’s Steven Summerhays is sixth at 1.87 goals against per game, but he leads the nation in shutouts with seven. Denver Pioneer senior Sam Brittain is fourth in the nation in shutouts (four), seventh in save percentage (.931) and 11th in goals against average (2.09 GAA).
In terms of games played, 19 have played at least 150 games so far in their careers. Air Force forward Tony Thomas (150), Cansius defenseman Ben Danford (151), Mercyhurst forward Daniel O’Donaghue (152) and defenseman Nick Jones (153), Minnesota forward Nate Condon (150), Wisconsin forward Michael Mersch (150), Quinnipiac forward Kellen Jones (153), Union forward Daniel Carr (152), Boston College forward Bill Arnold (153), New Hampshire forward Dalton Speelman (156), Notre Dame forward T.J. Tynan (158), defenseman Stephen Johns (158), forward David Gerths (150), forward Bryan Rust (155), Colorado College forward Alexander Krushelnyski (153), Western Michigan forward Chase Balisy (155) and defenseman Dennis Brown (152), Bowling Green forward Camden Wojtala (152), Lake Superior State defenseman Andrew Perrault (150).
Crossing the blue line
• With the non-conference season behind us, the final head-to-head competition between conferences has been decided with Hockey East holding on to the best non-conference record of all the conferences. Hockey East finished with a 72-41-15 record, a .621 winning percentage while the Big Ten finished second at .600 (47-30-8). ECAC Hockey was third at .562 (51-38-16), NCHC was fourth with a .536 winning percentage (37-31-16), WCHA was fifth at .383 (25-44-12) and Atlantic Hockey was sixth at .218 (16-64-5). However, Atlantic Hockey registered nine victories against Hockey East, the second most victories of any conference.
At his current pace of 1.88 points per game, Boston College junior forward Johnny Gaudreau would finish with the best average in college hockey since Peter Sejna of Colorado College averaged 1.95 in 2003. He also leads the nation in goals per game and is second in assists per game. If he were to catch Greg Carey of St. Lawrence he would become the first person to lead the nation in all three categories since the NCAA starting officially keeping men’s ice hockey stats in 1996.
Alaska-Fairbanks enters the final week of the regular season and will be seeking a fifth consecutive Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup title when it plays host to rival Alaska-Anchorage at the Carlson Center. The Governor’s Cup, which is controlled by Alaska 12-8 all time, is tied at 1-1 this year after the teams split in Anchorage back in December as UAA won 3-2 in game one, followed by a 5-4 triumph for Alaska in game two. Should Alaska and UAA split this weekend, the Cup title will be determined with a shootout. All-time, UAA leads Alaska 83-55-11 and the Seawolves cling to a 34-33-6 advantage in Fairbanks. The Nanooks have won five in a row at the Carlson Center against the Seawolves, with the last UAA win in Fairbanks coming back on Feb. 27, 2009 -- a 1-0 win. That was also the last year Anchorage won the Governor’s Cup.
• Nebraska Omaha junior forward Josh Archibald, who led the entire NCAA with both 10 goals and 16 points in February, has been named the Hockey Commissioners’ Association National Player of the Month for February. He scored three more goals and tallied three more points than any other NCAA player during the month. He also added six assists, while three of his goals came on the power play and two were game-winners. The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect averaged 2.00 points per game and 1.25 goals per game in February, leading the Mavericks to a 5-3-0 record in eight games. Archibald tallied six multi-point games during the month and four multi-goal games, including a hat trick, while posting a plus-2 rating.
Minding the net
Prior to Friday night’s game, former University of North Dakota women’s hockey All-Americans Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux will participate in a ceremonial puck drop. The duo recently won their second consecutive Olympic silver medal while representing the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. … Penn State’s series against the Wisconsin Badgers will mark the team’s 17th and 18th games against a ranked opponent. … Michigan Tech has assured itself of a .500 league record for the first time since 1992-93. … Josh Archibald of Nebraska Omaha leads the nation with 13 third period goals. … RPI and Dartmouth have played 12 times in the ECAC Hockey Playoffs with the Engineers leading 7-5. RPI has never lost to Dartmouth in three home playoff games. … RIT is 16-8 all-time in AHA postseason contests since becoming eligible for the league’s postseason in 2007-08, however the Tigers are 0-2 on the road in the AHA postseason. … Bowling Green has outscored its opponents 30-18 in the first period, but been outscored 40-32 in the third. … Union has the nation’s longest unbeaten streak at nine games, while Minnesota State is second at seven. … RIT, Connecticut and Clarkson are the only three teams in the nation without a short-handed goal. …Every team has allowed at least one short-handed goal. … With 10 short-handed goals, Mercyhurst has scored the same amount as Alabama Huntsville has scored on the power play.
