Boston University Hockey was hit with a bomb as it has permanently dismissed its leading scorer, Corey Trivino, of Toronto, because of sexual assault charges, while under the influence of alcohol, filed against him Sunday night of this week.  Because of two previous alcohol-related behavioral problems, Coach Jack Parker had placed Trivino on notice at the beginning of the season that any additional alcohol-related behavioral problems would result in immediate dismissal from the team, and Trivino was dismissed Monday morning.  Trivino had led BU recently to win seven of its last eight games, including a five game win streak at one point.  Trivino had scored 13 goals in 15 games.  Trivino was drafted in the second round, #36 overall by the Islanders in the 2008 NHL draft, and his status there as a result of these charges is unknown.

That is certainly heavier news than is normally reported here.   So . . . . on to last weekend, which resulted in splits/ties for nearly every top fifteen team.  Of note, a very determined Colgate team, ranked #12, took on #5 Merrimack, and played them to a tie.  Merrimack scored early in the first, and Colgate late in the second.  Colgate outshot Merrimack 35 to 26, and 12 to 4 in the second, and 12 to 6 in the third.  Merrimack pressed hard in OT, outshooting Colgate 5-1, but Colgate held tough and saved the tie.  Also, #6 Notre Dame split with #10 Ferris State, in a very different style than the Merrimack/Colgate game; Notre Dame and Ferris State just took turns beating on each other, with ND winning 4-1 Friday, and Ferris winning 4-1 on Saturday.  And in the category of big-time rivalries, two teams who love not to love each other, #15 Michigan State, and Michigan, played two very close games, with Michigan winning Friday by a 4-3 margin, and the two teams fought to a 3-3 tie on Saturday. In Friday night’s game, it started out all Michigan, as they had a 4-1 lead after two, unlike Saturday night’s game in which the scoring was rather even through the game.

And Ohio State, ranked #4, split with Miami of Ohio.  Hmmmm…. Ohio State #4?  Sometimes a coaching change can make a huge difference.  A couple of years ago Ohio State dismissed fifteen year coach John Markell, and hired Mark Osiecki, an assitant from Wisconsin, now in his second year.  In his first year, the Buckeyes went 15-18-4, but this year they stand at 13-4-1.  What a turnaround!  Osiecki had, prior to Wisconsin, served as head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL, and also played in the NHL for the Flames, the Jets, the Senators, and the Northstars.

This weekend there are only about ten games to be played, and of them, there is one top fifteen matchup, as #11 Union College will travel to #5 Merrimack on Saturday night.

This provides the top fifteen teams, rankings, records, and last weekend’s results:

[table id=32 /]

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

 — Tom