OPENING FACE-OFF: After posting a split in the Capital District against ECAC Hockey rivals Union and Rensselaer, December 4-5, the Colgate Raiders (7-5-4 overall, 5-3-1 in ECAC Hockey action) will make their final trip of the 2009 calendar season down the New York State Thruway as they play instate foe Canisius (8-9-2). Game time has been switched to a 5:05 start at the Buffalo State Sports Arena to accommodate a television broadcast by Time Warner Sports Net (won't be shown in Syracuse maket). This will be the fifth meeting between the two squads, first since the 2006-07 season. It will also mark the first time the Raiders have played the Golden Griffins away from the friendly confines of Starr Rink. Following this match-up, Colgate will have another lengthy break and won't suit up until January 2, when it plays Notre Dame in the opening round of the 2010 Shillelagh Tournament, outside of Chicago. Colgate comes into the contest having scored at least one power play in 10 of its last 11 games. The Raiders have also had at least one player post a multi-point game during the same span of games.
MEET THE HEAD COACH: Don Vaughan is in his 17th year at the helm of the Colgate Raiders. The 1984 graduate of St. Lawrence enters the campaign as the program's all-time winningest coach with a 276-258-63 mark. On February 16, 2008, he became the all-time winningest coach with his 252nd victory as Colgate blanked Union 8-0. On November 11, 2007, former Colgate President, Rebecca S. Chopp, announced the creation of the Donald F. Vaughan Endowed Coaching Chair for Men's Hockey.
THIS DATE IN COLGATE HISTORY: Colgate sports a 3-4 all-time record in games played on December 20. This will be the first time the Raiders have laced the skates on this date since a 5-4 double-overtime victory over Concordia back in 1980.
THE SERIES RECORD: Colgate holds a 4-0 lead in the series, which dates back to the first meeting played on November 3, 1987. All four previous meetings have been played in Hamilton and the Raiders have outscored the Golden Griffins 39-4.
LAST TIME VERSUS CANISIUS: Colgate scored four times in the opening period en route to a convincing 9-0 victory over Canisius, October 24, 2006. Eight players had multi-point evenings, while two of them, Tyler Burton and Mike Campaner, each had a goal and two assists. Current Raiders were on the score sheet as well. David McIntyre had a goal and an assist and Jason Williams posted three helpers, which still stands as his career high point total for a single game. Mark Dekanich turned aside 16 saves in the shutout. The game was mired with 35 minor penalties. Colgate went 6 of 16 on the power play, while the Golden Griffins were scoreless in 16 attempts.
CANISIUS IN BRIEF: Canisius enters the match up with a 8-9-2 overall record. The Golden Griffins battled to a 5-5 tie with Robert Morris, Tuesday evening. The Canisius offense, which ranks 20th in the land averaging 3.21 goals per outings, has one of the top three point producers in the country in junior Cory Conacher (13-13-26), while fellow junior Vincent Scarsella (7-14-21) is the other to post at least a point per game average. Senior Carl Hudson (5-13-18) ranks tied for fifth among scoring defensemen in the country. In net, Dan Morrison (6-7-1, 2.68, .916) has played the majority of minutes. The only common opponent between Colgate and Canisius is Army. The Raiders battled to a 4-4 tie with the Golden Knights at Starr Rink, while the Golden Griffins dropped a pair of games in West Point – 4-1, 7-2.
THINGS TO WATCH FOR: Charles Long could reach a milestone against Canisius, if he is called upon to play. Long is 16 saves away from hitting 1,000 for his career. He would become the 17th goalie in the program's history to reach that plateau.
LAST TIME OUT: Colgate got third period goals from Francois Brisebois and David McIntyre in a 5-3 victory at Rensselaer, December 5 to gain a weekend split in the Capital District. With the game knotted at 3-3 heading into the final period, Brisebois netted his second game winner of the year at 2:17 of the third, while McIntyre gave the Raiders some insurance with his fifth of the year at 18:01. Charles Long posted 26 saves in the victory to improve to 5-2-2 in the cage for Colgate. Brisebois finished with a goal and an assist, while Austin Smith collected two helpers. Brian Day was the first Raider to hit double figures in goals with his 10th of the year at 5:16 of the first.
MORE FROM TROY: The five-goal outburst was the most goals scored by the Raiders against the Engineers since a 5-4 victory at Starr Rink back on February 18, 2000. The performance also served as the most goals scored by Colgate at Rensselaer in close to 15 years. The Raiders posted a 6-3 win at Houston Fieldhouse on January 16, 1995.
EVIN SAYS NO SOUP FOR YOU: In Colgate's 3-1 loss at Union, Alex Evin stopped Mario Valery-Trabucco on a penalty shot in the second period. It was the first penalty shot against Colgate since March 19, 2004 when former Raider standout Steve Silverthorn stopped Clarkson's Chris Blight in an ECAC Hockey semifinal match-up. The opposition has only scored three times in nine tries against Colgate goalies – the last coming on January 4, 2003 as Randy Jones beat Silverthorn in a 6-0 Raider loss.
IN 10 of LAST 11: In 10 of the last 11 games, Colgate has posted at least one power play goal. The Raiders had gone nine consecutive games with a power play goal until Union successfully killed off both Colgate power play opportunities. CU posted a goal in six man advantage situations in a 5-3 victory in Troy, December 5. The Dutchmen also snapped a streak of nine consecutive games in which at least one member of the squad posted a multi-point outing. Before the meeting with Union, 23 multi-point games were tallied by 12 different Raiders. Colgate started a new streak as Francois Brisebois (1 goal, 1 assist) and Austin Smith (2 assists) had multi-point games versus the Engineers.
Army – Kurtis Bartliff (2 assists)
Niagara – Austin Smith (2 goals), David McIntyre (2 assists), Nick Prockow (1 goal, 1 assist)
Harvard – David McIntyre (1 goal, 3 assists), Thomas Larkin (1 goal, 1 assist), Austin Smith (two goals, 1 assist)
Dartmouth – Brian Day (1 goal, 1 assist), Austin Smith (2 assists)
Brown – Austin Smith (1 goal, 1 assist), Brian Day (1 goal, 1 assist), Corbin McPherson (1 goal, 1 assist)
Yale – Jason Williams (1 goal, 1 assist)
Quinnipiac – Brian Day (2 goals), Wade Poplawski (2 assists), David McIntyre (2 assists)
Princeton – Nick Prockow (1 goal, 1 assist), Francois Brisebois (2 goals, 1 assist), Robbie Bourdon (2 assists), Jeremy Price (2 assists), David McIntyre (2 goals, 1 assist), Austin Smith (2 assists).
Cornell – Thomas Larkin (2 assists).
Union – None
Rensselaer – Francois Brisebois (1 goal, 1 assist), Austin Smith (2 assists).
STREAKING RAIDERS – The 2009-2010 season has seen the Raiders either continue old streaks or put together new ones.
- Went into overtime in the season-opener at Niagara to continue streak dating back to last season of eight consecutive overtime appearances.
- First three games were determined by a goal or less to increase the consecutive streak to 14 consecutive dating back to last season.
- Had a six-game unbeaten streak from October 30-November 20 going 4-0-2.
- Posted three goals or more in nine consecutive games from October 23-November 24.
- Had a power play goal in nine-consecutive games from October 30-December 4
- Had a streak of nine consecutive games in which at least one Raider posted a multi-point game from October 30-December 4.
FRENCH CONNECTION 2.5: While not exactly Gilbert Perreault, Rene Robert and Rick Martin, Colgate's trio of Francois Brisebois, Nick Prockow and Robbie Bourdon has faired very well during the last four games. All three – either natives of Montreal, or the suburbs, played for the first time together in the Raiders' 5-4 overtime victory over Princeton on November 24. Including that game against the Tigers, the threesome has combined for five goals and 14 points. Brisebois (4-2-6) has two game-winners in this span (versus Princeton in overtime and at Rensselaer), while Prockow (1-3-4) and Bourdon (0-4-4) assisted on both of Brisebois' scores.
WHAT DAY IS IT?: Aside from the members of Colgate's version of the French Connection, no one on the Raiders roster is hotter than Brian Day. The senior has nine points in his last six games, six of those in the form of goals. He has at least one point in six of his last seven appearances.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING: As of December 15, Colgate had a strong presence in national statistical categories as six skaters were ranked among the top 50 in the country. Austin Smith is ranked among the top 35 in five categories – tied for 20th in points per game (1.25), tied for 11th in shorthanded goals (1); tied for 34th in goals per game (0.50), and tied for 20th in game winning goals (2), tied for 31st in assists per game (0.75). David McIntyre is tied for 30th in points per game (1.19) and is tied for 11th in assists per game (0.88); Brian Day is tied for 15th in power play goals (5) and ranks 10th in goals per game (0.71); Jason Williams is tied with Smith for 11th in short handed goals (1); Thomas Larkin is ranked in a tie for 33rd in points per game for a rookie (0.69) and is 23rd in points per game for a rookie. With his performances in the Capital District, Francois Brisebois is a recent addition ranking in a tie for 20th in game winning goals (2).
POWER PLAY HEATING UP: After starting the season, 1 of 26 on the power play, Colgate has scored on 11 of its last 52 attempts (.212) since the Army game. The Raiders have posted at least one power play goal in 10 of their last 11 games including cashing in on two of four opportunities against the then second-ranked penalty kill unit in the land – Cornell. It was the first time the Raiders had multi-power play goals in a single game since a 4-2 loss at St. Lawrence on January 30, 2009. Brian Day leads the squad with five power play goals, which is tied for 18th nationally.
54th IS GOOD IN THIS INSTANCE: Usually, when talking about being ranked nationally, the lower number is better. In the case of penalty minutes, it's just the opposite. Colgate ranks 54th nationally out of 58 schools in fewest penalty minutes per game (10.8 pmpg). Alaska still remains the least penalized team in the land averaging 8.2 penalty minutes per outing. In contrast, North Dakota tallies 21.4 penalty minutes per game and is the most penalized team in the nation.
40 SOMETHING ON SATURDAYS: In back-to-back Saturday performances against Yale (11/14) and Princeton (11/21), Colgate goalies posted 40 or more saves. On November 14, Charles Long saved a career-high 41 shots in a 3-3 tie with the then 11th-ranked Bulldogs. The following Saturday, Alex Evin bested his former career-high of 41 set last season with a 43-save performance in a 5-4 overtime victory against the Tigers at Starr Rink, In the opening Saturday of league play, Long tallied 38 saves in a victory over Dartmouth (11/7).
DAILY DOUBLE: When Francois Brisebois and David McIntyre scored two goals apiece in Colgate's 5-4 overtime victory over Princeton, it marked the first time two Raiders notched multi-goal games since another 5-4 victory in overtime at Starr Rink. On January 8, 2009, Austin Smith and Jason Fredricks each posted two scores in a win over Lake Superior State. The game with the Tigers marked the last home game in 2009, while the victory over the Lakers was the first home game of 2009.
DOUBLE BIG MAC: For the second time in three weeks, Colgate's David McIntyre was named as the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week on November 23. The senior posted two goals and three assists on the weekend versus Quinnipiac and Princeton. On November 9, he was honored with the recognition for the first time this season after tallying a five-point weekend in a sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth. In the opening game that weekend, McIntyre posted a career-high four-point outing (a goal and three assists) as Colgate overcame a 4-1 third-period deficit to down the Crimson 5-4. He scored a goal the following evening in a 3-2 win over Dartmouth. That same day, teammate Thomas Larkin was named the league's rookie of the week. He posted two points on the weekend, both coming versus Harvard (one goal, one assist). It was his first multi-point game of his career.
PASSING THE CENTURY MARK: With his career-high four-point evening versus Harvard, David McIntyre became the 48th player in the program's history to surpass the 100-point milestone. He heads into this weekend's game versus Canisius with 111 career points, which stands tied for 37th on the all-time list with Cory Murphy. He needs only one point to move into a three-way tie for 34th with Robert Meehan, Jon Smyth, and Earl Cronin; two points to tie Tim Loftsgard for 33rd with 113 points and three more to move into a tie for 32nd with current Ottawa Senator Jesse Winchester, who amassed 114 points in his career.
FIRST WEEKEND SWEEP IN A WHILE: When Colgate downed Harvard and Dartmouth to open its 2009-2010 ECAC Hockey slate, it was the first four-point weekend since February 15-16, 2008 when the Raiders blanked Rensselaer 4-0 and Union 8-0. Colgate's last non-conference weekend sweep was over Robert Morris on December 1-2, 2007.
FRESHMEN IMPACT: After 16 games, the Colgate freshmen have integrated themselves rather well as far as posting points. The freshman class is averaging nearly 2.2 points per game with a combined 35 points (11 goals, 24 assists) thus far. Earlier, there was a four-game stretch where a freshman collected his first collegiate goal of his career. Kurtis Bartliff netted his first goal in the 1-1 tie with nationally ranked Nebraska-Omaha, while Christian Long found the back of the next the following night against the Mavericks. Against UMass-Lowell, it was Robbie Bourdon's turn to light the lamp and then it was Jeremy Price opening the scoring versus Army. Bourdon (4-5-9) and Thomas Larkin (1-8-9) lead the class with points, while Bartliff (2-5-7) is only two points behind.
HOLIDAY DRIVE A SUCCESS: Ethan Cox's canned food and toy drive from November 21st's clash with Princeton was a major success. The senior spearheaded a dual drive for the first time and raised over 1,000 pounds of food, 150 toys, and $650, which will go along way in providing holiday cheer to families in the greater Hamilton Area. The food items will help restock the supply at the Hamilton Food Cupboard, while the toys will be given to the Holiday Interfaith Council. Last year's drives raised 350 pounds of food, 200 toys and $1,007 in cash over two separate weekends.
AHEAD OF PACE: Some people thought it was hilarious, while others shook their collective heads in disbelief regarding Colgate's national record 19 overtime appearances during the 2008-09 season. Don't look now, but the Raiders are ahead of their record pace of a year ago. Colgate posted its fifth overtime game of the year in its 13th outing. In the record-setting season, the Raiders tallied their fifth overtime game of the year in a 3-2 overtime victory versus Maine in the opening rounds of the Florida Collegiate Classic on December 27.
A RECAP OF THE OVERTIME STREAK: Colgate entered the 2009-2010 campaign having played seven consecutive overtime games, which dated back to the end of 2008-09 season. The Raiders went 3-2-2 down the stretch in these games – the two losses coming to Quinnipiac in a best of three series in a first round ECAC Hockey Tournament clash in Hamden, Conn. The streak began at home with a 2-2 tie versus Union on February 20. Colgate would go on to beat Rensselaer (2-1); tie Brown 3-3 in Providence and then upset #11 Yale (3-2) in front of a national TV audience in New Haven all before the meetings with the Bobcats. Quinnipiac won the opener 3-2; then Colgate rallied from a two-goal deficit late in the game for a 5-4 victory to force a third game. The Bobcats prevailed 4-3 in the final game of the series. The Raiders stretched the streak to eight with a 4-4 tie at Niagara last Friday evening, but was broken the following night in a 3-2 regulation victory at RIT. It was Colgate's first regulation victory since a 1-0 defeat of Dartmouth on Valentines Day at Thompson Arena.
SHOULD OVERTIME HAPPEN: If it happens, eyes need to focus on two of Colgate's best ever goal scorers in overtime in David McIntyre and Austin Smith. McIntyre is tied for second all-time with three overtime game winners. He needs one more to tie Jon Smyth for first. One of McIntyre's goals lifted Colgate by Clarkson in the third and final game of an ECAC Hockey quarterfinal as the Raiders advanced to the Final Four as the seventh seed. Smith is tied for sixth having scored two overtime winners as a freshman last season versus Lake Superior State and Quinnipiac. McIntyre has six overtime points (3 goals, 3 assist) and five of them came last season. The only game he didn't record a point in a game winner in overtime was Colgate's 5-4 victory over Quinnipiac in the second game of the three-game series.
Player G A P
David McIntyre 3 3 6
Ethan Cox 0 3 3
Austin Smith 2 0 2
Francois Brisebois 1 1 2
Brian Day 0 2 2
Kevin McNamara 0 1 1
Robbie Bourdon 0 1 1
Nick Prockow 0 1 1
PRESEASON HONORS: David McIntyre has been named a pre-season first team all-ECAC Hockey honoree by the coaches and media. In addition, the senior has been named as a preseason first team all-American by Inside College Hockey and once again named to the all-College Hockey News first team. In 2008-09, McIntyre finished with 21 goals and 43 points, both ranked among the leaders nationally. His point total was the highest for a single season since Andy McDonald's 58 in 1999-2000. He was a first team all-league honoree; a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, a first team AHCA/Reebok Eastern All-American, a first team all-American by Inside College Hockey and was a selection to the all-College Hockey News team. In addition, McIntyre is one of 20 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for men's ice hockey.
GETTING DRAFTY: Colgate has six NHL draft picks on its 2009-2010 roster. David McIntyre was drafted in the fifth round of the 2006 Draft by the Dallas Stars. Last year, his rights were traded twice in two months and now stands property of the New Jersey Devils. Corbin McPherson (New Jersey, 3rd, 2007), Brian Day (New York Islanders, 6th, 2006), Austin Smith (Dallas Stars, 5th, 2007), Jeremy Price (Vancouver Canucks, 4th, 2009), and Thomas Larkin (Columbus Blue Jackets, 5th, 2009) round out the Raiders' draft picks.
BLUELINE SHUFFLE: Colgate will have a revamped defense for the 2009-2010 season. Don Vaughan's squad lost five defensemen to graduation that combined to play close to 600 collegiate games. With the return of Corbin McPherson, Wade Poplawski and Kevin McNamara, the Raiders have 132 games of collegiate experience. Newcomers will need to make an impact on the blueline this season.
OH BROTHER: Charles and Christian Long are the first set of brothers to play for Don Vaughan at the same time. They hail from Cleveland Heights, Ohio and played junior hockey for the Brockville Braves of the CJHL. Charles and Christian have played three years together at different levels including helping St. Edwards High School to an Ohio State High School title.
