College Hockey   CC Tigers and USAFA Falcons Hockey

Nashville Predators defenseman Jack Hillen (38) checks Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Adam Hall (18) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, in Nashville, Tenn. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Former Tiger Nate Prosser was called up and praised for his efforts in the Wild’s 1-0 win Saturday over Detroit by coach Mike Yeo:

Yeo praised the play of his four young defensemen — Justin Falk, Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella and Nate Prosser, who was called up from Houston on Saturday to fill in for the injured Greg Zanon. “To see four young kids in there doing that against the Detroit Red Wings, for me it’s a huge story,” Yeo said.

Here’s video of Joey Crabb fighting a Lake Erie Monster on Friday.

Brett Sterling was named as the Peoria Rivermen’s player of the month.

Ryan Lowery picked up his first AHL point,  an assist in an OKC Barons loss

Brian McMillin is back stateside playing for the CHL’s Allen Americans.

Bill Sweatt picked up a assist Saturday for AHL Chicago.

Here’s a link to a video of Friday’s highlights from RPI athletics and here’s Saturday’s video. Unfortunately, there is no audio available for either one.

Here’s the CC 70th anniversary video as well.

Colorado College’s move up to No. 2 in both polls is no surprise after Boston College’s sweep and Denver picking up only a single point at Michigan Tech.

Minnesota, now No. 5 in both polls,  continues to climb as well.

But the big winner this week has to be Michigan Tech, which is now No. 16 according to U.S. College Hockey Online, which runs the Pairwise rankings, which mimics the NCAA Tournament selection process,  and is the poll The Gazette uses for publication.

Air Force received votes in both polls.

U.S. College Hockey Online

Weekly poll

Team (1^st-place votes)              Rec.     Pts. Prev.

1. Boston College (42) 7-1-0   971      1

2. Colorado College (5)            4-0-0   834      3

3. Michigan                              6-1-1   779      4

4. Western Michigan (1)           5-0-3   689      7

5. Minnesota                            7-1-0   684      8

6. Notre Dame             5-2-0   681      5

7. Merrimack                           6-0-0   627      9

8. Denver                                 3-2-1   589      2

9. Yale (1)                                1-0-1   500      10

10. Ferris State             6-2-0   471      6

11. Lake Superior State            7-1-0   390      18

12. Boston University   3-2-1   373      13

13. Union                                 3-1-3   367      11

14. Minnesota-Duluth   4-3-1   331      15

15. North Dakota                     3-4-1   259      12

16. Michigan Tech                    5-2-1   204      NR

17. Northern Michigan  4-3-1   197      14

18. Colgate                              4-2-1   136      16

19. Quinnipiac              6-2-0   114      20

20. Maine                                 3-2-1   97        NR

Others receiving votes: Wisconsin 64, Clarkson 47, Dartmouth 30, Miami 22, Nebraska-Omaha 21, Air Force 11, Cornell 11, Harvard 7, Ohio State 7, St. Cloud State 7, Bowling Green 5, Michigan State 3, Alaska-Anchorage 2.

USA Today/USA Hockey

Team (1^st-place votes)                    Rec.     Pts.     Prev.

1. Boston College (30)                      7-1-0  507     1

2. Colorado College (3)                     4-0-0 464     3

3. Michigan                                        6-1-1  427      4

4. Notre Dame                                  5-2-0  366     5

5. Minnesota                                     7-1-0  353     8

6. Western Michigan                        5-0-3  311      10

7. Merrimack                                                6-0-0 309     9

8. Denver                                           3-2-1  281      2

9. Yale (1)                                          1-0-1  244     6

10. Ferris State                                 6-2-0  174      7

11. Union                                            3-1-3  158      11

12. Boston University                      3-2-1  126      12

13. Lake Superior State                   7-1-0  109     NR

14. Minnesota-Duluth                      4-3-1  86        15

15. North Dakota                              3-4-1  54        13

Others receiving votes: Northern Michigan 23, Colgate 21, Michigan Tech 21, Quinnipiac 18, Maine 12, Clarkson 9, Dartmouth 6; Air Force 1.

But a road sweep at ECAC member Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute should help later this season, junior right wing Scott Winkler said Saturday night.

“These points will be huge in head to head,” he said. “We don’t have that many nonconference games.”

The home win and tie against the Engineers last season played a key role in CC qualifying for the 2010 NCAAs by giving them a head-to-head advantage over RPI, which also made the tournament.

Once RPI gets healthy –  four top forwards may return this week – a better season for the Engineers will boost CC’s strength of schedule, a key component to the computerized rankings.

The Tigers have three home nonconference games against the ECAC; Dec. 31 versus No. 11 Union followed by the Jan. 6-7 Cornell series. The other non-league game is Dec. 30 at home against Air Force.

Here’s some WCHA notes from the weekend along with Atlantic Hockey.

Sorry for the delay. Snowstorm knocked out power in the area and I had no laptop battery juice left last night.

Compiled from school web sites …

No. 2 Denver 2, Michigan Tech 2

HOUGHTON, Mich. — Denver freshman goalie Juho Olkinuora stopped 27 shots in his first career start as No. 2 Denver skated to a 2-2 overtime tie at Michigan Tech Saturday night.

Sophomore Jason Zucker and freshman Joey LaLeggia scores and Drew Shore assisted both goals for the Pioneers (3-2-1,  2-1-1 WCHA). Michigan Tech, who blasted DU 7-2 Friday night, moved to 5-2-1, 3-2-1 WCHA with a three-point weekend.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win with a much better effort tonight,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said. “We had a lead in the third, but Tech capitalized on a blown coverage to earn the tie. I thought Olkinuora played extremely well in his first collegiate start.”

Milos Gordic staked Tech to a 1-0 lead when he followed his rebound on the power play at 6:29 of the opening period.  Tech’s Brett Olson buried a loose puck at 12:35 of the third period and neither team scored in the extra frame.

Olkinuora, who started in place of injured Adam Murray, saved the tie for Denver when he stopped Tanner Kero from the low slot with 23 seconds left in overtime. Olkinuora made four saves in the extra session.

Michigan Tech outshot the Pioneers 29-25 and went 1-for-3 on the power play. DU went 2-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Denver returns home for a two-game WCHA series against Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 4-5.

Denver’s Beau Bennett missed his second game with a right wrist injury.

“I am really proud of how we played tonight,” said Huskies coach Mel Pearson. “We gave a gutsy effort. We matched their intensity from the beginning to end. If we play like we did tonight, we are going to win a lot of games.”

No. 8 Minnesota 3, Alaska-Anchorage 1

ANCHORAGE — The No. 8-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers earned the Western Collegiate Hockey Association sweep over the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves with a 3-1 victory on Saturday evening at the Sullivan Arena.

The Gophers (7-1-0, 4-0 WCHA) used three goals – one in each period – to hand the Seawolves (3-4-1, 0-4) their fourth-straight loss and keep them scoreless in the conference. UAA is currently tied for 11th in the league, which Minnesota leads with eight points.

No. 12 North Dakota 3, St. Cloud State 1

GRAND FORKS — The host Sioux limited St. Cloud State to nine shots on goal for the first 38 minutes of the game in skating to a 3-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) victory.

The Sioux, coming off a 4-0 shutout loss to the Huskies on Friday night, relied on lock-tight defense to avoid become the first Sioux team to get off to a 0-4 start in WCHA play.

“I think it was our most consistent 60-minute defensive effort,” UND coach Dave Hakstol said. “Part of what we did well was continue possession in the offensive zone. I thought we spent a lot of minutes there, and when we did have turnovers, we were in good position to track pucks.”

Along with a strong team defense that enable the Sioux to outshoot the Huskies 26-21, specialty team play was huge for UND.

The Sioux converted 2-for-4 on the power play and blanked the Huskies on their three chances, limiting them to a total of two shots on net in the trio of power plays.

No. 15 Minnesota-Duluth 1, Bemidji State 0

DULUTH — Senior netminder Kenny Reiter made 23 saves to help Minnesota-Duluth earn a 1-0 shut out against Bemidji State on Saturday at AMSOIL Arena to record a home sweep. Reiter, who allowed a pair of goals on the first two shots he faced in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association series opener with Bemidji State University, held the Beavers scoreless the rest of the way, including a 1-0 victory Saturday night.

With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 4-3-1 overall and 2-2-0 in the WCHA while completing their first regular season home sweep since Nov. 12-13, 2010.

Senior center Jack Connolly’s power play goal with 8:39 left in the game was all the scoring the defending NCAA champions would need as Reiter recorded his first shutout of the season and seventh of his career.

Wisconsin 6, Nebraska-Omaha 3

MADISON — Sophomore forward Mark Zengerle scored two goals and an assist and sophomore defenseman Frankie Simonelli added a goal and two assists as Wisconsin defeated Nebraska Omaha 6-3 on Saturday at Kohl Center.

MSU-Mankato, idle

Marciano sits out for precautionary reasons

A sore left wrist prompted the coaches to hold out junior defenseman Joe Marciano, opening the door for freshman Ian Young’s first game as a Tiger on Saturday. The minor injury was sustained during the boarding penaltyl against RPI’s C.J. Lee late in the third period of Friday’s 4-1 win.

“I hope to play next weekend,” Marciano said before Saturday’s game.

In his stead, Young recorded an assist, his first point as a Tiger. Senior Arthur Bidwill was paired with the rookie and garnered praise from coach Scott Owens and Young.

“I was lucky I played with Bidwill most of the game,” Young said. “He always got back to cover for me when I made a mistake and was always giving me advice on the bench.”

“A lot of the defenseman stepped up in the absence of Marciano and (Aaron) Harstad,” Owens said. Harstad did not make the travel roster this week.

CC penalty kill shakes off bad game

The Tigers penalty kill looked the best it had so far this season, going 6-for-6 including one RPI power play when the Engineers could only manage seven seconds in the CC zone. The Tigers limited RPI to only three shots in six minutes

“It was important for us to come back after that Saturday game against Bemidji (State),” Nick Dineen said, referring to the Beavers’ three power-play goals. “We did a good job cutting down their time in our end.”

Etc.

NHL players Joe Juneau and Adam Oates have banners in The RPI Hockey Ring of Honor hanging above the ice along with coach Ned Harkness. Other less recent notables included Bob Brinkworth, Frank Chiarelli and coach Garry Kearns. .. Saturday night’s snowstorm (4-6 inches in Troy) kept some of the sellout crowd (based on ticket sales) away. Of the 4,800 tickets sold, 4,407 attended the game.

No. 3 Colorado College 4, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1

Colorado College         1          1          2          — 4

RPI      0          1          0          —  1

First period – 1. CC, Krushelnyski (McDermott) 11:19 (SH). Penalties – RPI, Malchuk, interference, :46; CC, Hall, holding the stick, 7:26; CC, Rapuzzi, tripping, 10:14; RPI, McGowan, hooking, 12:23; CC, R. Schwartz, slashing, 17:23.

Second period – 2. RFPI, Angers-Goulet (Bailen) 10:31 (SH); 3. CC, Winkler (McDermott, Young) 11:22 (PP). Penalties – RPI, McGowan, tripping, 4:08; CC, Hamburg, hooking, 7:18; RPI, Lee, interference, 9:36; RPI, Cullen, tripping, 14:49; RPI, Cullen, interference, 17:45.

Third period – 4. CC, R. Schwartz (Winkler) 7:21; 5. CC. J. Schwartz (unassisted) 18:25 (EN). Penalties – CC, Hamburg, interference, 3:32; CC, Krushelnyski, hooking, 10:34.

Power play – CC 1-6, RPI 0-6. Shots on goal – CC 10-13-4-27; RPI 8-6-7-21. Saves-minutes – CC, Howe 8-5-7-59:34; RPI, Diebold 9-12-2-59:22. Attendance – 4,407.

TROY, N.Y. —  The Colorado College Tigers took an important step forward as a team, recording a road sweep with Saturday’s 4-1 win at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on the smaller NHL sheet.

The two wins, both by 4-1 margins, should help better prepare the third-ranked Tigers (4-0) for their return to Western Collegiate Hockey Association play when they travel to Nebraska-Omaha this Friday.

“It was a hard-earned victory,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said. “It’s good for the wins and for the experience of playing on a smaller sheet. It helps us in many ways. It gives us more confidence playing on the smaller sheet.”

Junior center Rylan Schwartz scored off a pass from Scott Winkler to put CC ahead 3-1 with 12:39 remaining and silence the 4,407 fans at Houston Field House on the RPI campus in Troy, N.Y.

It was fitting that Schwartz got the goal after he forced the RPI turnover which he tapped over to Winkler as Schwartz raced toward the front of the Engineers’ net.

“I really didn’t do much,” Winkler said. “It was all Rylan’s hard work All I had to do was make an easy pass.”

Winkler also scored his first goal this season, which turned out to be an important momentum turner for an RPI team (1-6) hungry for a break.

Winkler’s power-play slap shot from the left point found its way through traffic and past RPI goalie Scott Diebold only 51 seconds after RPI had tied the game at 1-1 on a shorthanded goal.

Winkler’s goal made it 2-1 midway through the second. Goalie Joe Howe made 20 saves, 10 after allowing the shorthanded goal, to keep CC ahead for good.

Jaden Schwartz scored on an empty-netter with 1:35 left for the final margin.

Alexander Krushelnyski scored a shorthanded goal, his first score of the year, with an excellent second effort to put CC up 1-0 headed into first intermission. Krushelnyski’s first shot was stopped by Diebold’s left leg pad. But the rebound went back to Krushelnyski’s stick blade so he flipped the puck in over Diebold’s left shoulder as his momentum carried him into the corner for the score.

“He didn’t quit on it,” Owens said. “Then Winks ripped that goal and Rylan came up with that huge goal that made it 3-1. Lots of guys got the job done.”

“The penalty kill was good (6-for-6), Howe was good for the second night in a row and our power play struggled a bit,” Owens said. “It wasn’t always pretty but we got it done.”

Scott Winkler’s slap shot found its way through traffic and past RPI goalie Scott Diebold only 51 seconds after RPI had tied the game at 1-1 on a shorthanded goal to give CC a 2-1 lead headed into the third.

Alexander Krushelnyski scored a shorthanded goal with an excellent second effort to put CC up 1-0 headed into first intermission.

Eamonn McDermott controlled a loose puck in the neutral zone and sent a pass forward to center ice where Krushelnyski reached back and pulled the puck forward, starting a breakaway between the RPI defenders.

He raced in and fired a low shot stopped by RPI freshman goalie Scott Diebold’s left leg pad. But the soft rebound went back to Krushelnyski’s stick blade and he flipped the puck in as his momentum carried him into the corner for the score.