Faceoff Factor

NCAA Weekend Recap: Mmm-Mmm Good Edition

Andrew Chiappazzi | College/NCAA

Jan 21, 04:54 PM | Hype this story!

It was a good weekend for the M’s. Every team whose name begins with the letter ‘M’ – expect for Massachusetts and Minnesota State – earned points in some fashion this weekend. Some managed only a tie, others swept their opponents. Either way, points were accrued, and that’s the name of the game, right?

It also helps to skew that weird stat a bit by not including the Directional Michigans. If you want to add “Northern” or “Western” in front of your stately moniker, go ahead. It’s your right.

Just know that it messes with the hockey gods and when they decide to be friendly to certain letters of the alphabet, well, you’re not going to get an invitation.

As for the two losing ‘Ms’...a little bit of divine fate interceded.

Minnesota State had the misfortune of running into a hot-under-the-collar North Dakota team. So even though the game was at home, the Staters just couldn’t deal with a team that has now won five straight after losing two to New Hampshire and St. Cloud State. Maybe the Fighting Sioux got the wrong message and in the bitter Midwestern cold, they heard that the ‘Ns’ were supposed to win instead of the ‘Ms’.

For Massachusetts, they ran into Providence. Literally. On a weekend where the hockey gods blessed the ‘Ms,’ Massachusetts had to play their namesake brethren – Massachusetts-Lowell – and lost. And then, they went on the road in Rhode Island against Providence – apparently a team of a destiny. See, the Friars have played nothing but ‘Ms’ since late December, with wins over Michigan State, Massachusetts-Lowell.

They’ve been something resembling an M&M buzzsaw. So, naturally, UMass lost to Providence. Who then lost to…

Maine.

Where’s Rod Serling when you need him?

The List:
Skater of the Weekend: Rob Ricci, Jr., Merrimack.
Merrimack has had a relatively unimpressive season thus far in the Hockey East, but Ricci certainly raised a few eyebrows as the Warriors split their games against Boston and Brown. Ricci now has 24 points on the year, and six of them came this weekend. First, in a 6-4 loss to Boston, Ricci set up Chris Barton twice and Joe Loprieno once. Three Merrimack goals came with the Warriors down 5-1. Boston scored an empty netter to officially pull away. The Warriors were able to beat the Brown Bears 4-3, and again it was all Ricci. Ricci scored twice and figured in on the first equalizer of the game. That’s 2 goals, 4 assists, and one whale of a weekend.

Goalie of the Weekend: Jeff Lerg, Jr., Michigan State.
The Spartans second-season renaissance during their title-defense has been due to an impressive hot-streak. Since the calendar flipped to ’08, the Spartans have earned points in every match. They’ve all been league games, as well, a feat that’s catapulted them to a close third in the WCHA. Lerg has been outstanding. He’s played in all but two games, registering a 2.28 GAA and a .922 SV%. On this weekend, he took on Ohio State and in 120 minutes, he stopped 49 of 50 shots as the Spartans won easily 4-1 and 4-0.

Daniel Carcillo PIM Award: Carcillo, a former Penguins prospect currently on IR in Phoenix, currently leads the NHL in penalty minutes with 172. He’s played in 33 games. Most NHL teams have played about 48, and most of the other leaders in PIM have played close to that number.

So who found themselves in the sin bin a bit too often this weekend? Keep in mind that it takes special achievement to reach massive penalty minutes in college hockey since there is no fighting. Well, let’s just hand it to Lake Superior for a team achievement. It was going to be difficult to beat Miami to begin with, and then they go out and commit 19 penalties in 2 games. In fairness, Miami had 16. The problem was Lake Superior picked up a lot of extra minutes, all of which were unnecessary. Miami served 32 minutes, so all of theirs were 2 minute penalties. Lake Superior served 62 minutes, 24 of which were extra. They came in the form of three misconducts, a sure sign of an undisciplined hockey team.

Tune in tomorrow night of the weekly power rankings.