Men's College Hockey Weekend Preview: Northern Michigan at Ohio State
MARQUETTE—The CCHA season got underway for the Wildcats last weekend at the Berry Event Center. After facing a tough Bemidji State squad, the Wildcats responded on the ice.
Despite not being able to win a game against No. 1 Miami, NMU played well enough on the ice to compete. Most of the offense was on the shoulders of forward Mark Olver, who scored three out of the four weekend goals and was named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week.
This weekend, a lot of questions loom for the Wildcats.
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Goal tending, special teams and spreading around offensive production have all been issues this season. With more ranked competition than any other conference, the CCHA will be, without a doubt, tough battles every weekend. Ohio State gives the Wildcats one last chance to straighten out those questions until the competition continues to toughen.
Ohio State will host it’s first home series of the CCHA season this weekend, after dropping two out of four on the road the last few weekends to Lake Superior and Notre Dame. The Buckeyes wrapped up last weekend in South Bend with a shootout win over the Irish.
Last season at Value City Arena, the Buckeyes went 13-5-2.
The Buckeyes, like the Wildcats, are looking to solve some of their on-ice issues before they get even heavier into the CCHA season.
Northern Michigan (1-4-1) vs. Ohio State (2-5-1)
Friday, November 6th and Saturday, November 7th
Value City Arena
Game Times: 7:00 PM ET
Series Record: 33-32-3
Streaming Video: B2 Network Wildcat Coverage
Streaming Audio: Wildcat Coverage (WNMU)
Live Stats: NMU Athletics Website
Miami 3 1 0 0 10 8 9 Michigan State 3 1 0 0 11 8 9 Alaska 2 0 0 0 6 3 6 Michigan 2 0 0 0 11 4 6 Ohio State 1 2 1 1 9 11 5 Nebraska-Omaha 1 0 1 0 6 4 4 Notre Dame 1 0 1 0 5 3 4 Lake Superior 1 3 0 0 10 17 3 Bowling Green 0 1 1 1 4 6 2 Ferris State 0 2 0 0 3 6 0 Northern Michigan 0 2 0 0 4 6 0 Western Michigan 0 2 0 0 4 7 0
Coaching Profiles:
Walt Kyle, Northern Michigan University—Entering his seventh season, Walt Kyle opens CCHA road play this weekend, looking to continue success at the helm of his alma mater. In five of his first six seasons in Marquette, Kyle has led the Wildcats to the CCHA tournament. With five 20 win seasons under his belt at NMU, Kyle has continued to bring in top notch recruits to play his system. The Wildcats finished the 2008-2009 season with a record of 16-5-1.
Kyle came to NMU with plenty of experience. As an assistant coach for the New York Rangers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Kyle gained the experience of coaching some of the best players in the world.
Kyle is one of the rising hockey coaches in the country.
Despite two losses last weekend, Kyle was impressed with his team’s play against No. 1 Miami.
The Wildcats competed in both games and didn’t let down, despite a four goal deficit on Friday. He will look to bounce back on the road this weekend.
Kyle has an overall record of 123-108-22 in his tenure at NMU.
John Markell, Ohio State—In his fifteenth season at the helm of Ohio State, Markell is the only coach in Buckeye history to lead his squad to the NCAA tournament, doing it six times in his tenure.
Last season, the Buckeyes returned to the national picture, winning 20 games and going 13 games unbeaten at one point of the 2008-2009 season. Ohio State beat three out of the four number one seeds last season.
Markell lettered at the varsity level in the CCHA with Bowling Green and was elected to their hall of fame in 2000.
Markell is 19-16-0 against the Wildcats as the Ohio State head coach.
Offensive Leaders:
19 Zac Dalpe Ohio State 2 4 6 36 15 John Albert Ohio State 2 3 5 29 24 Shane Sims Ohio State 2 2 4 16 21 Mark Olver Northern Michigan 4 6 10 20 7 Erik Gustaffson Northern Michigan 2 3 5 8 18 Justin Florek Northern Michigan 1 4 5 14
Forwards:
The Buckeyes are led up front by sophomore Zac Dalpe, who posted 25 points in 37 games in his rookie campaign. The 2008 second round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes has gotten off to a fast start so far in 2009, despite the fact that his squad is only averaging two goals a game.
He has added 15 pounds to his frame after his freshman campaign and that should help him remain the consistent go-to-forward in 2009-2010.
Junior forward Peter Boyd, who captained this squad last year, is off to a rather slow start.
After a 31 point season in his sophomore campaign, the Buckeyes will look to him for more offensive playmaking.
John Albert is a key part of moving the puck for the Buckeyes. He led the squad in assists last year and was second in points. Already, he is second on the team in shots and could be a big cog in the offensive game plan at home.
An honorable mention to the All-CCHA team last season, Albert returns to Columbus for his junior season primed to make a statement. The hometown product was drafted by the Thrashers in 2007 and has a better shot than has statistics indicate.
A year after scoring the most goals in Buckeye history since 1999, the offense continues to struggle despite strong play from it’s leaders. The Buckeyes are second to last in scoring offense in the CCHA.
For the Wildcats, forward play has been dominated by junior Mark Olver. Olver is third in the CCHA with ten points, including an offensive player of the week performance last weekend against Miami. The Wildcats are waiting for the emergence of scorers Phil Fox, Greger Hansen, Matt Butcher, Jared Brown and Tyler Gron
Once this group of forwards gets on track, the scoring offense will climb from the bottom of the CCHA.
Until then, it will be a continuous struggle for the defense, goal tending and special teams to keep the Wildcats in game.
Defense:
After allowing just 2.8 goals per game last season, the Buckeye blue line has a lot of pressure on them to perform at a high level this season.
Junior Shane Sims, who led all Ohio State blue-liners in points last season, will be counted on just as much as fellow junior Chris Reed. Reed had 13 points last season.
Also on the blue line is CCHA All-Rookie team selection Matt Bartkowski who was a plus-12 last season as a freshman. Bartkowski leads the team so far this year in penalty minutes. Bartkowski is a physical, in your face defenseman that can score if needbe. Without a doubt, he is solid in the zone but his puck handling could use some work.
The Florida Panther product is on his way to being one of the best current CCHA blueliners.
Also helping out are true freshman Devon Krogh and Brandon Martell.
Krogh is making an instant impact on both sides of the ice and could eventually be a big part of the power play. Meanwhile Martell is the “defenseman’s defenseman” type who could see some playing time this weekend.
Cory Toy, Sean Duddy, Erick Belanger and Mike Folkes will see ice time this weekend. This is a solid group that could have no problem shutting down the Wildcat offense, if it remains the one dimensional weapon it has been all year.
The Buckeyes are giving up 2.5 goals per game in CCHA play this season
For the Wildcats, Erik Gustafsson has done his part offensively and on the defensive end.
Bruiser T.J. Miller didn’t play last weekend, but should be on the ice against Ohio State. He will be looked on to disrupt the play makers on the Ohio State offense.
The Buckeyes have struggled scoring this season, but at any point could break out.
Alan Dorich is starting to get his legs under him and youngster Scott Macaulay and Kyle Follmer has done a good job filling in this season.
Erik Spady has also played well. He is second on defense in assists.
NMU has one of the better scoring blueliners in Gustafsson but besides him, only Kyle Follmer has more than five shots on goal this season. The Wildcats have also struggled in maintaining offenses so far.
The Wildcats are eleventh in the CCHA in scoring defense. The Wildcats are allowing 3.33 goals per game so far in conference play.
Netminders:
Like the Wildcats, Ohio State has given significant time on the ice to both of its goalies. Junior Dustin Carlson and sophomore Cal Heeter have been in this position before. Last season, both battled for the starting position. Carlson ended up on the better end of the hockey stick, putting together one of the best Ohio State seasons in net. He recorded 21 wins, four shutouts and had the second most amount of saves in the CCHA.
This year, Carlson has gotten off to a slow start. Meanwhile Heeter has split time defending the Buckeye net this season. Despite having more saves Carlson has a worse save percentage and an 0-4 record. Heeter has posted a 2-1-1 record and a solid .945 save percentage. Heeter is in the Top-10 nationally in goals-against average (1.72/10th) and save percentage (.942/7th).
Though Heeter looks to be the favorite, the Buckeyes will most likely play both this weekend as they try and find the most stable option down the stretch.
Last week against Miami, Brian Stewart continued to struggle.
Like Carlson, NMU’s starter last season has yet to win in 2009-2010. After starting Friday’s game last weekend, Reid Ellingson came in the game to start the third period to keep the RedHawk offense off the scoreboard. On Saturday he Ellingson started and gave up two goals, both of which were scored by Miami on the power play.
Stewart has given up 16 goals already this season and has a .853 save percentage. This could be the weekend the Ellingson steals the job away.
It would seem that head coach Walt Kyle will also split time between his goalies this weekend.
Earlier this year, Kyle said that this season lives or dies on Stewart’s play. The leash might be tight for Stewart, but if he has a good game this weekend, he could get hot quickly.
Special Teams:
Like every weekend, special teams could be the key to victory for either side in competition. Both the Wildcats and Buckeyes commit too many penalties with both squads averaging 20 penalty minutes a game. If the Wildcats can find a way to play a bit more cleanly, they could have a distinct advantage. Scoring could come at a premium and having an extra skater on the road might help spark this struggling offense.
Especially with the distinct advantage the Wildcats have on the power play. NMU is 6-for-29 when on the power play this season. The Buckeyes are 6-for-45.
When it comes to killing penalties, both teams sit at the bottom of the CCHA with below 80 percent kill percentages.
Weekend Story Lines:
The Third Period—While NMU has scored more goals in the third period than any other point of the game, the Buckeyes have also given up the most amount of goals this season in the third period.
Goalie Play—Can Reid Ellingson win the job for NMU? Will Brian Stewart bounce back from his slow start with another big performance? Can Cal Heeter win the job away in Columbus?
Goalie play at this point of the season can determine what is in front of a team for the season. Some decisions on playing time for both teams could be made based on this weekend’s performances.
Road Warriors—The Wildcats were 8-8-4 on the road last season, including three wins down the stretch against then No. 4 and No.8 Miami. The Wildcats will need continued success on the road, especially after a home sweep last weekend.
(To keep updated on this weekend’s action, make sure to follow Inside NMU Athletics on twitter! Stop by the Live Chat as well on the home page to talk about this weekend’s series.)
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