November 22, 2011
ECRHA Roundtable, Long Island Weekend, 11/18-11/20/11
Players of the Week
Jesse: Good evening, and welcome to another edition of ECRHA Roundtable- here always is my esteemed sidekick, Bill Bourque.
Bill: Thanks Jesse, let's get right to it. Central Florida visited us this weekend on Long Island, what did you take away from their visit?
Jesse: I thought UCF was a pretty solid team. Having watched most of their games, they seemed spotty at times. By that, I mean that one period, they would be flat and uninspired, while the next period they would come out flying, looking like a completely different team.
They certainly have great speed, and can definitely finish.
Bill: Agreed, their game against Neumann pretty much hit your description dead on. For the first two periods, they were dominated and honestly lucky to only be down 5-1, but they dominated the third period from start to finish and made things close in the end.
Since were on the topic of DI, who stood out to you this weekend?
Jesse: My first pick is obviously John Kaszubski. How many points did he have this weekend?
Bill: Oh, only a mere 16 points, nothing to write home about.
Seriously though, Kaszubski was absurd this weekend, scoring 11 goals and adding 5 assists.
Jesse: Didn't he have a hand in every Stony Brook goal in the UCF game? They might see him in their nightmares.
Bill: Yea, his game against Central Florida was one for the record books. He scored 8 points (7G,1A) in the game, leading Stony Brook to a 8-4 victory.
Jesse: Great stuff. He had a weekend to remember for sure. My next nominee will probably shock a lot of people, but I'd like to nominate URI goaltender Christopher Norton.
Bill: That is shocking, you're going to need to defend that choice.
Jesse: As you are probably aware, URI snapped a 33-game winless streak this past weekend. Not only did they snap it, but wound up winning another game as well. Norton has undoubtedly been a big part of their turnaround, as he has given URI a chance to win every game thus far, and really stood out in the Buffalo game.
He might not have the stats to back it up- but Norton has been the backbone of the URI team this season, and his 21 save performance in a 3-2 win against Buffalo was just great stuff.
Bill: Interesting point of view, it is hard to fault your logic, but do you see him outplaying guys such as Anthony Ehinger from Neumann (5G, 6A), Cody Gabor from Connecticut (6G, 6A) or Derek Blatchley (5G, 10A)?
Jesse: It's tough, don't get me wrong. I just think he deserves some recognition, since he has really been the cornerstone of that program. Come on, Bill- you know I have a soft spot for goalies!
Bill: Fair enough, I just don't think you can overlook Derek Blatchley, who once again had a dominating performance for Stony Brook. Blatchley is really coming into his own in his Senior season.
Jesse: I agree. The offensive pairing of Blatchley and Kaszubski were just a powerhouse this weekend. They accounted for the majority of Stony Brook's offense this past weekend, and were flat out hard to stop.
Bill: I have a hard time not talking about Cody Gabor (UConn) and Anthony Ehinger (Neumann). They both were leaders of their teams this weekend, especially Ehinger who was constantly putting his team in a position to win.
Jesse: Both deserve some credit. They each racked up an impressive amount of points. Neumann looked sharp this weekend, as they knocked of previously undefeated Stony Brook, and Ehinger was a big part of that.
Bill: I don't know what else to say, shall we vote?
Jesse: It's really not going to be easy. There are a lot of deserving people this week.
My top three would look like: Kaszubski, Ehinger, Blatchley.
Bill: I am going to throw you a curve ball...and vote Kaszubski/Blatchley as co-number one's, Ehinger and then Gabor.
Jesse: I don't know if they would appreciate sharing the honors like that, Bill
Maybe Kaszubski wants to rub it in Blatchley's face, have you ever thought of that?
Bill: I don't see that being the case, Stony Brook has the looks of a true team and I think they would enjoy sharing in the success.
Jesse: You are probably right. Let's go with your list, then.
Bill: Sounds great, let’s move on to Division II.
Bill: Lot's of exciting action this weekend, but I think the best of the bunch had to be UMass-Amherst making a statement against Binghamton. The thrilling back and forth battle was thrilling and really fun to watch.
Bill: It is fitting that two of the guys I would like to nominate both played in that game, first, Johnathan Ison from Binghamton, he scored 6 goals this weekend while chipping in with 3 assists for 9 points. Additionally, Corey Bauman continues to do it all, matching Ison point for point this weekend.
Jesse: Both players are excellent- and can really fill the net at any given time.
Jesse: I'd like to nominate Josh Krantz from Queens, who went 2-0-1 on the weekend, with a 1.67 GAA and an impressive .937 save percentage this weekend.
I think if Queens wins Division II, he will be a big reason behind them winning it all.
Bill: You really love your goalies.
Bill: Those are really impressive numbers though, Krantz without a doubt deserves a nod, I would almost go as far as the first star.
Jesse: I do like my goalies, we are an underrated and underappreciated bunch! Is there anyone else who deserves some consideration?
Bill: I actually have a pair of players. Alex Brennan from Albany and Matthew Toy from Northeastern.
Brennan did it all this weekend for Albany, scoring 6 goals and 3 assists on the weekend. Albany is fighting for a playoff spot, and performances like Brennan's will go a long way in getting them there.
Toy had an impressive weekend as well, scoring 5 goals and 4 assists as Northeastern continues to roll towards the top overall seed in the league.
Jesse: Very duly noted Bill. I will say this, Brennan's performance is certainly crucial to Albany making the playoffs.
So, what are your top three from Division II?
Bill: Krantz, Brennan, Bauman
Jesse: I am inclined to switch Bauman and Brennan- but for the sake of playing nicely, I will agree with your picks. A lot of players had a compelling case this weekend in Division II- but these three stood out.
Bill: We are 2/3 of the way there, time to turn our focus onto the B Division.
Jesse: Sounds good. Care to start?
Bill: I will defer to the second half.
Jesse: My first nominee is Ricky Guadagno from Suffolk. We seem to mention his name a lot- 8 goals and 6 assists in four games this past weekend. Pretty impressive, huh?
Bill: Yea, he is playing really well for Suffolk, but I am going to pick someone from his own team as my top player.
You should really enjoy this as well, because I am going to nominate goalie Ricky Giannino.
Ricky made 81 saves on 91 shots this weekend for a .890 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.50, good enough for a 3-1-0 weekend.
Jesse: As Bill's favorite artist, Gwen Stefani, would say, this roundtable is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
Bill: You're out of control.
Jesse: That may be true, but you know who had control last weekend?
The trio of Hofstra goaltenders: James Lauto, Craig Camara, and John Iadevaia. They combined for a GAA of 1.00, and a save percentage of .945.
Bill: Four goalies in 1 conversation...I want out. Goalies aren't people!
Jesse: It wasn't an incredibly high scoring weekend, there were a lot of outstanding goaltender efforts. I for one accept our new goaltender overlords.
Bill: I want out of this conversation, I am going to throw one more person into the conversation, Thomas Corcoran from Stony Brook who has 2 goals and 7 assists over the weekend for 9 points. I am leaving this up to you, oh servant of the goalies...
Jesse: Well since Corcoran is clearly not a goalie, he is out of the running for player of the week.
Or is he? The plot thickens...
Jesse: All kidding aside- my picks are as follows: Hofstra tri-goalies, Ricky Giannino, Ricky Guadagno.
Bill: I will only keep going under protest.
Jesse: Look, just because I made a somewhat bold prediction and nailed it last week doesn't mean you have to be mad.
Bill: Fair enough, what do you have to say about our event?
Jesse: I think the Long Island event was the best one to date. The Hofstra-Stony Brook game really kicked off the weekend right, as about 250 people showed up. Christine Newman sang a beautiful anthem, the SBU check presentation to the LI Coalition for the Homeless was done very well, also.
Jesse: What did you think of the event Bill?
Bill: I truly was a great event. So many awesome things going on, especially getting to enjoy some Chipotle, Cannolis, and La Piazza.
Jesse: I also want to take time to thank all of the parents and players who bought 50-50 raffle tickets. We really hope to make a difference and cut the overall cost for ECRHA teams going to nationals. Look for us to continue to do this at every event from here on out.
Bill: Agreed. Congratulations were in order for the winner of the raffle, Jim Tamburino.
Jesse: Absolutely. Alright, Bill- let's wrap this up. I know you have a lot of Glee and New Girl episodes to catch up on. Any predictions for the Harrisburg event?
Bill: Glee, No. New Girl, Yes. I predict a long weekend, with games going from 6am-1am on Saturday. I also will predict Shippensburg getting their first win over the season, beating Cornell 4-3.
Jesse: Bold pick. I am going to go with Rowan winning all of their Division I games this weekend. I like their chances with the set of games they have this weekend.
Naturally, this will cause Rowan to go 0-4.