That’s right, Notre Dame freshman left wing sensation Mario Lucia, son of Minnesota Golden Gophers’ coach Don Lucia, has been named CCHA rookie of the month after scoring four goals and four assists in five games during December, and has just returned from his gold-medal winning performance as a member of the US World Junior Hockey Team in Russia, to help his Notre Dame team face his dad’s Golden Gopher team tonight.  More on this later.

So what happened over the weekend?  Let’s start with our heralded matchups — the rolling train that is #5 Quinnipiac beat #12 Dartmouth, and Harvard as well.  And #9 Denver swept #15 Cornell over the weekend.  So Quinnipiac is starting to secure its place in the top ten, and Denver has established itself as over its blue period the last few weeks before the Christmas break.  In addition, Boston College was tied by Yale, knocking BC down to #3 from #2 in the rankings.  While this may look like there are problems at BC, I highly doubt it.  BC has a swoon or two every season, but they are always ready come playoff time.  They might drop down to #5 or #6 in the rankings, but they will be back, and will be the team to beat.  #4 New Hampshire won last Monday night against Bemidji State, and over the weekend against RPI.  #7 North Dakota’s weekend at home produced a sweep of #24 Holy Cross, and #8 Boston University beat RPI.

#10 Western Michigan beat and tied Bemidji State, while #11 Mankato State swept a pair from #25 Providence.  #13 Nebraska-Omaha swept two games from Colorado College, while #1 Minnesota, #2 Notre Dame, and #6 Miami were idle.

Top fifteen matchups for this week and weekend?  They’re huge!  #1 Minnesota hosts #2 Notre Dame tonight, for one game.  This game is just starting the second period right now, with Minnesota up 2-1.  Notre Dame brings in a six game winning streak since November 23, and Minnesota brings in a five game unbeaten streak since November 30, having gone 4-0-1.   In addition, #3 Boston College and #4 New Hampshire will play a home/road pair of games on the weekend.  And add to that, #9 Denver will host #13 Nebraska-Omaha for a pair of games — Nebraska-Omaha currently is atop the WCHA standings, and you can bet that this surging Denver team will do all it can to put a stop to that.  These should be brutal games all the way around.

So back to Super Mario.  He’s the son of Minnesota native Don Lucia, who also attended Notre Dame and played hockey there from 1977 to 1981, racking up seven goals and twenty-three assists in his 124 game career as a defenseman.  He is one of our contributing field reporter John McLean’s most admired figures in college hockey, as a Minnesota native, and is a fellow high school alum of another of our contributing field reporters, Greg Schreader, both from Grand Rapids High School, in Grand Rapids, MN.  Son Mario, while playing in only nine of Notre Dame’s eighteen games, and has contributed five goals (tied for second on the team) and five assists, for a total of ten points (sixth on the team).  He was drafted in the second round by the Minnesota Wild.  His brother, Tony, played for their dad’s Golden Gophers from 2006-10, and is currently in the San Jose Sharks organization.  What a hockey family!

Another great matchup this weekend is the United States Military Academy travelling to play two games at the United States Air Force Academy.  Army brings in a 7-9-2 overall record and is currently second in the twelve-team Atlantic Hockey Conference standings, while Air Force brings in a 6-9-4 overall record and is currently eighth in Atlantic Hockey.  I had the pleasure of meeting a 1973 Air Force Academy graduate this past weekend and he shared some of his academy experiences with me, notably that “everyone went to the hockey games — they were always packed.”  Well, the Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs, CO., sits at a little over 7,000 feet in elevation, and seats 2,502 — this is sixty percent of the Air Force Academy enrollment of 4,000.  It was built in 1968, and last season it was the site of something that happened at only three schools — average attendance of a sellout through all regular season and playoff games.  The other two?  Notre Dame and Michigan.  Air Force was second in the nation in average attendance as a percentage of capacity, at 104.3%, exceeded only by Notre Dame’s 105.3% average.  The falcons have won 61% of all home games at Cadet Ice Arena, and in the 45 years it has been opened, have only had ten losing home game seasons.  The arena and the team have really rewarded the students and local fans!  The Falcons are 15-5-2 against Army at home.   I think we have found a place where college hockey is really king on campus!  Thanks for the insight, Bill.  Air Force is coached by Frank Serratore, of Coleraine, MN. His brother, Tom, is the coach at Bemidji State. And, along the lines of what is happening tonight in Minneapolis with the Lucia Family, last week Frank coached his Falcon team against the Minnesota Gophers team that has Frank’s son, Tom Serratore, on its roster.  Another bigtime hockey family!

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

[table id=55 /]

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

— Tom