BUFFALO, N.Y.-The American International College ice hockey team will play their final pre-Christmas road series as they head to western New York to try to turn the tables on the Canisius Golden Griffins in an Atlantic Hockey Conference series.
LAST TIME OUT: AIC dropped their lone match of the weekend, falling 3-2 to the Dartmouth Big Green in non-conference action at Thompson Arena in Hanover, N.H. Dartmouth jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first before the Yellow Jackets turned the tables, getting a goal by sophomore left wing Austin Orszulak (Springfield, Mass.) from senior center Alexander MacMillan (Calgary, Alb.) and junior defenseman Derek Henderson (Smithfield, R.I.) at 14:48. The teams battled through a scoreless second period, with freshman Alex Murray (Burlington, Ont.) keeping the Jackets in the game with save after save. Dartmouth finally broke through again in the third, making it 3-1, and though AIC drew to 3-2 with a goal by sophomore right wing David Norris (Calgary, Alb.), their last shot of the game was saved by the Dartmouth goalkeeper to hold on to the win for the Big Green.
Canisius split with Air Force last weekend, winning 3-1 on Friday before falling 3-2 on Saturday. Sophomore forward Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ont.) and junior forward Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ont.) each had a goal and an assist in the series opener, which saw the team overcome an early 1-0 deficit, and then fell the following night despite a 36-19 shot advantage as a comeback from 3-0 down in the third fell just short; senior forward Cody Freeman (Toronto, Ont.) scored a goal and had an assist as well in that frame.
LAST TIME THEY MET: AIC was swept by Canisius in a weekend set at the Olympia Ice Center on October 24-25, falling 3-1 and 4-2 as the Griffins netted three third period goals both nights to pull out wins. In Friday's contest, the game was scoreless through the first fifty minutes before a Griffins power play goal broke the deadlock; they scored quickly again to take a 2-0 lead. Though senior forward Nathan Sliwinski (Castle Rock, Colo.) deflected a shot by Orszulak into the net to cut the lead to 2-1, Canisius responded with a goal at 17:00 of the frame to seal the win. On Saturday, AIC scored first as freshman center Jackson Dudley (Edmonton, Alb.) buried his first collegiate goal in the second frame, but Canisius scored the game's next three goals to again build a 3-1 lead. Freshman center Bryant Christian (Moorhead, Minn.) netted his first goal of his college career to cut it to 3-2 midway through the third, but the Jackets could not find a tying goal, conceding an empty-netter late to fall 4-2.
THE TRIO FROM BURLINGTON: Southern Ontario is one of the best places in the world to find hockey talent, and three players in this series come from the same city-Burlington. Yellow Jackets goalkeeper Alex Murray will try to stall Shane Conacher and Tyler Wiseman from the Griffins this weekend; additionally, AIC senior Jason Popek hails from Hamilton, which borders Burlington to the south. In fact, fourteen players between the two teams hail from Canada's most populous province.
NEW NEST FOR THE GRIFFINS: Canisius has long played at the rink on the campus of Buffalo State University, but now they have a home all their own in the beautiful new HarborCenter in downtown Buffalo. With seating for over 1,800 in the primary rink that the Griffins use as well as a full-size secondary rink, the NHL-regulation sheet of ice will get to showcase high-quality hockey action. However, given that AIC had not won at that arena since December 9, 2007, and was just 1-10-3 at Canisius's former rink since the founding of Atlantic Hockey for the 2003-04 season, a new facility might be the best thing for the Yellow Jackets as well.
FAMILIAR FACES ON CANISIUS BENCH:Two former Yellow Jackets will be behind the bench for the Griffins. Trevor Large, one of Canisius's assistant coaches, was an assistant coach for the Yellow Jackets for 2006-2008. Mike Murphy, Canisius's equipment manager, held that position with AIC last season.
TIGHT SQUEEZE IN ATLANTIC HOCKEY: Although Robert Morris has a three point gap between themselves and the second-place Holy Cross squad, the rest of the league is bunched together. The Crusaders have a dozen points, good for second in the league but only six ahead of the currently-tenth place Yellow Jackets, who are tied with Niagara. Of the 52 games that have been played in Atlantic Hockey, eleven, or 21%, have been ties, five more have required extra time, and 24 of the 52 games overall-46%-have been decided by one goal or ended in draws.
SAVE THE POPULATION: Murray has faced a plethora of shots this year and he has been brilliant. In six Atlantic Hockey contests, he has 240 saves on 258 shots for a .930 SV%, averaging forty saves per game, the most in the league by far. Among goalkeepers with at least five starts in league play, only Sacred Heart's Alex Vazzano has even averaged above 30, with 153 saves in five starts.
NEXT UP: The Yellow Jackets return home to the Olympia for their final weekend set of the fall semester when they host the Bentley Falcons in a two-game series. The games will be Saturday, December 13 at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday, December 14 at 2:05 p.m.
