NFL
By Jason Gulden
Welcome, NCHC hockey fans, to another week of NCHC action. This week, we step away from conference play and play some non-conference games. Six of the nine teams in the conference are in action this weekend. We have one team playing in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game, featuring two former WCHA rivals in Denver. We have one team taking part in the Friendship Four in Belfast, Ireland. The other four teams are participating in a weekend series across the United States.
Before we look at all those games, we must put the final touches on last weekend’s games with our look back at the Players of the Week honors.
The honors this week feature two Western Michigan players.
The Forward of the Week is playing in his first season with the Broncos after transferring from Colorado College this past summer. Zaccharya Wisdom receives the honor. Over the weekend against Omaha, Zaccharya scored three goals and had one assist. Friday night, Zaccharya had his first multi-goal game for the Broncos.
His teammate, Hampton Slukynsky, would take home the Goaltender of the Week honors. Hampton would help lead the Broncos to a sweep of Omaha, totaling 48 saves on 52 shots. He improves his record to 9-5-0 in the season. He is currently on a 4-game winning streak. With the Broncos’ hot turnaround from early in the season, it all starts with a hot goaltender, and that’s what they currently have with Hampton.
The Defenseman of the Week is having a great season for the Denver Pioneers. Eric Pohlkamp won the honor this week. On Friday night, with a 7-1 victory over Arizona State, Eric scored two goals and assisted on another. On the season, he is second among NCHC defenseman with 16 points, while his 10 goals lead all NCAA defenseman and rank third among all NCHC skaters.
The Rookie of the Week belongs to David Deputy of Miami (OH). During the weekend against St. Cloud State, David would score his first two goals of his collegiate career and have two assists. He would have 1 goal and 1 assist each game.
The rankings in College Hockey are constantly changing every week. This week, NCHC teams hold down spots 4-7. Denver University comes in at #4 after dropping one spot from last week. Minnesota Duluth drops one spot this weekend, down to #5. North Dakota stands still at #6. Western Michigan is climbing back up the rankings by moving up a spot to #7. Other teams receiving votes in the USCHO rankings this week, but not enough to crack the top 20, include Colorado College, Miami (OH), Omaha, St. Cloud State, and Arizona State.
This weekend, we have the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game, taking place at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. Denver University welcomes former WCHA foe back to Denver for the first time since Feb. 2012, when the Minnesota Golden Gophers came to Denver. This is the 180th all-time meeting between the schools, and Minnesota holds the record of 94-73-12; however, Denver has a 41-39-5 record at home against the Golden Gophers.
We have one of our teams traveling to Belfast, Ireland. Miami (OH) will take part in the Friendship Four Tournament. Friday afternoon in the States, Miami (OH) will take on RIT. The winner of that game will take on the winner of Sacred Heart and Union on Saturday. The loser will take on the loser on Saturday as well. Will Miami (OH) win another tournament for the NCHC?
The four other non-conference games feature Ohio State traveling to Arizona State. Omaha is traveling to Yale. Colorado College welcomes Providence to Colorado Springs. North Dakota travels to Bemidji State.
A lot of great hockey is coming our way this weekend. Take some time this weekend to sit back and enjoy some NCHC action. I know I will be, and I will be back next week to recap all these games and preview the three-game schedule that takes place next weekend.
