December 23, 2009
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Florida Classic Among Holiday Highlights
by Joe Malta/CHN Reporter
Palm trees, white sandy beaches, and 70-degree temperatures — not exactly a typical setting for a college hockey tournament. But it has been home to one of the most intriguing ones for 10 years now.
This year, the Florida College Classic has another outstanding field. No. 3 Colorado College and Princeton will join perennial participants Maine and No. 4 Cornell at the Germain Arena, home to the ECHL's Florida Everblades, Dec. 29-30.
“Great competition, and a great setting — it was a no brainer,” Princeton coach Guy Gadowsky said on the decision to bring the Tigers in for their first visit to Southwest Florida.
Maine coach Tim Whitehead added, “This is always a special trip for us. ... Craig Brush (Everblades President/G.M. and former Cornell player) does an outstanding job of bringing in a very competitive field.”
This year is no different as four of the sports' most storied programs, boasting three of the highest-scoring offenses in the country face off against some of the nation's top goaltenders.
Princeton vs. Maine
In game one of the tournament the Black Bears of Maine (9-7-1), winners of their last five games, will meet the Princeton Tigers (4-8-1), coming off a win at then-No. 9 Mass.-Lowell.
“The holiday break came at a great time for us, we really just needed to heal,” Gadowsky said when discussing the injuries his team has been dealing with this year. “We had to play two men down in our last game.”
The Tigers are led by senior goalie Zane Kalemba. Kalemba, is a Hobey Baker award finalist from last season who had a career high 45 saves in the win at Lowell.
“He is a leader both statistically and mentally for our team,” said Gadowsky.
Maine comes into the Classic leading the nation with 30 power-play goals and seventh in the nation in team offense. But Whitehead says it's the defense that has keyed the recent surge by the Black Bears.
“Team defense, goaltending, our penalty kill. We have improved in all of those areas,” he said. “Scott Darling has emerged as a legitimate No. 1 goaltender for us.”
The Black Bears have held their opponents to only one goal in each of their last five games, though they will not have played in a while when the puck is dropped.
“There may be a little rust but that all goes away quickly once the puck is dropped,” Whitehead said.
Sophomore Gustav Nyquist is among the top scorers in the nation and leads the Black Bears with 25 points.
Colorado College vs. Cornell
Holiday break comes to an abrupt end for No. 3 Colorado College and No. 4 Cornell when they square off in game two.
Colorado College (11-4-3), one of the biggest surprises of this season so far, makes its second trip in three years to the Sunshine State and is 7-2-2 in its last 11 games. Led by senior Mike Testwuide whose 12 goals overall are second among WCHA skaters, the Tigers are unbeaten (4-0-3) away from home so far this season.
The Big Red of Cornell (7-2-2), unbeaten in their last four games and the defending tournament champions, boasts the most productive power play in the nation, converting on 32.1 percent of its chances. Senior Blake Gallagher has seven power-play goals in just 11 games for the Big Red, good for fourth in the nation. Gallager is also second behind only James Marcou of Massachusetts, with an average of 1.55 points per game.
Both Cornell and Colorado College are in the top ten in team offense and team defense. Between the pipes, Cornell senior Ben Scrivens is sixth in the nation with a 1.97 goals against average.
CC's goaltending situation was more uncertain, with the departure of highly-decorated Richard Bachman two years early. Instead, freshmen Joe Howe has looked like a freshman Bachman, and is among the leaders with a .926 save percentage.
