College Hockey Update:  This week we’ll do something we rarely do — report on all NCAA DI men’s hockey games played last weekend — which won’t take much space because so few games were played.  #6 Nebraska-Omaha had no trouble at all sweeping Arizona State (don’t you just love seeing the name Arizona State appearing here?), and #20 Merrimack had no trouble getting a win Sunday afternoon over Canisius. Elsewhere, Colorado College split with Alabama-Huntsville, Northeastern beat Michigan State, Union won a close one against Vermont, and The U.S. Junior Team had a nice outing Friday night in which they won a game with UMass-Amherst.         . . . and that’s it!

Last year Cornell had its worst season in twenty years when they finished at 11-14-6.  You might imagine that for a school with such a hockey history, the thrill of hockey was dimmed quite a bit on campus, and perhaps for a new freshman, hockey might not have been a big deal at all.  Oh how things have changed this year.  Cornell has only recorded one loss, with its record at 8-1-2 at the Christmas break, and they have climbed steadily in the poll.  And they’ve been getting help from all over in the roster, including some surprising places, such as freshman defenseman Alec McRea, of El Cajon, CA.  In Cornell’s last outing on Saturday, December 5th, McRea scored a goal and added two assists, to lead his team to a 5-2 win over Clarkson, and to keep Cornell in a very small group of teams with only one loss or less (the others are #1 Providence with no losses, #3 Quinnipiac with one, and #7 Harvard with one).  On Tuesday, December 8th, McRea was named the ECAC Rookie of the Week.  The 6′ 3″ 205lb McRea is tied for tenth on the team in goals scored with one, but is second on the team in assists, with seven.

His hometown of El Cajon, CA. is home to 100,000 who are spread out among 14 square miles.  It was first named El Cajon in 1821, and the name means “the box,” or “the drawer” in Spanish.  The town sits in the base of a valley surrounded by mountains, about nineteen miles northwest (meaning inland, and hot) of downtown San Diego.  The hottest month there is August, with an average high temperature of 88 degrees, and the highest recorded temperature there is 113 degrees in 1955, 2006, and 2010.  It gets very chilly there, and December is the coldest month, with an average low of 41 degrees.  The record low there was 19 degrees in 1913.  El Cajon is the birthplace and hometown of former MLB player Bret Boone, six-time NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson, Olympic Diver and gold-medalist Greg Louganis, and former NFL player Tommy Vardell.

Cornell hockey dates back to 1901, and includes two NCAA Championships in 1967 and 1970. Cornell last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2012, when they beat Michigan in the first round, and lost in the second round to Ferris State, that year’s Championship Runner-Up.  With its record and ranking, it looks like Cornell is headed back to the NCAA Tournament this year. Cornell plays its games in the historic Lynah Rink, which opened in 1957 and was named for James Lynah, who was the Athletic Director at Cornell from 1935-43.  Lynah seats 4,267, and is reputed to host the loudest and rowdiest crowds in college hockey.  The crowds are known for hi-jinx including cow bells, and the Indifference Salute, during which the spectators show their interest in the visiting team’s lineup as it is being announced by raising newspapers and reading them, and the Harvard Salute, which entails throwing dead fish on the ice when the Harvard team first skates out.  Their next home game against rival Harvard is Saturday, January 21st, and should be a killer of a game as Harvard is ranked #7.  Cornell is ranked #9, and plays next on Monday, December 28th, against #1 Providence in the Florida College Classic Tournament in Estero, Florida.

This weekend there are no games scheduled, but eight teams will resume play on Monday in two different tournaments.  Most notably as mentioned immediately above, #1 Providence will face #9 Cornell on Monday, and depending on the results, this tournament could produce a championship game on Tuesday of #1 Providence and #4 Boston College — but they both have to get by their first round opponents for that to happen.  The other tournament could produce a championship game on Tuesday of #8 UMass-Lowell and #14 Penn State.  Tuesday and Wednesday see two more tournaments get underway, as well as six other non-tournament games.

This provides the top twenty teams as of December 14, and the rankings, records, and results of the December 11-13 weekend (in other words, this table is not updated from last week):

[table id=119 /]

I hope you will all have a very Merry Christmas, and a happy and great New Year in 2016.

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

— Tom