LOCAL RINK CITY 3: THE LAKE(RS) HOUSE

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends

We’re so glad you could attend

Come inside Come inside

There behind the glass is some solid college games

You’re sure to be entertained

Come inside Come inside

Sorry for the delay, three 3:00 a.m. shifts in a week and a broken laptop make you lose sense of time and space. Solid tunes before we get into the meat and potatoes of what’s happening in the cawlidge hockey world. This week, we’ll be diving into the men’s ice hockey team of the great Erie lake, the one and only Mercyhurst Lakers.

MERCYHURST MEN’S HOCKEY

Conference Record: 5-5               Overall Record: 5-8

Last Game: 5-1 Win over Canisius College, Friday Nov. 25th

Next Game: vs Sacred Heart University, 7:05 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9^th

What’s their deal?

Mercyhurst is a bit of the third wheel in terms of the college game around Pittsburgh. They’ve had their successful years, sure, but because they’re up in the artic portion of Pennsylvania named Erie, they don’t get a ton of love. Make no mistake, Mercyhurst is never a push over. In 2014, the Lakers were the AHA conference champs and in the early 2000’s they made 3 NCAA tournament appearances. After that though, the Lakers haven’t lit the world on fire with Robert Morris being right near Pittsburgh and Penn State storming onto the scene. Still, the Lakers are an entertaining team and definitely deserve attention from any good hockey fan.

Are they good?     

Ehhhh . . . they’re not bad, by any stretch of the imagination. Especially coming off a conference win in 2014. The problem is Mercyhurst hasn’t found true success since then, especially this year. However, they are a bit of a young team. Mercyhurst only has 3 seniors, so there is some growing room, but they need the sophomores and juniors to really step their game up; both classes, by the way, make up the VAST majority of the roster. So it’s doable, but this season is all but a wash for them. Look to the Lakers of the future for wins, but appreciate the ones of the here and now until then.

Who to watch:

Derek Barach seems to be the young gun of the Lakers this year. He is an assist machine with 14 in 13 games played. Unfortunately, that’s his main contribution. His shot total is a solid 33 shots (about .42 shots per game) but a lack-luster 2 goals. The assists definitely help, but I can guarantee Barach would like to find the scoring touch sooner than later. Even still though, that’s just over an assist per game and an assist means a goal so you can’t help but appreciate that.

Wrestler Comparison:

http://static.sportskeeda.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/raw_1104_photo_016-1455688891-800.jpg

Post-Corporate Kane

Who could forget the big machine? Steamrolling lesser opponents. Now, they’re a bit older and, while they found championship gold a few years ago, they haven’t really been the same. But next thing ya know, they’ll be back on top (well kinda . . .)

Next week, the women get their due! Starting once again with the RMU Women’s Colonials!

SCORE BOARD FROM AROUND THE BURGH:

RMU MEN’S HOCKEY TEAM:

The RMU Men’s team has been storming through their last few games. After handedly beating Dartmouth 3-0, RMU rushed through Sacred Heart (again) completing the season sweep against the Zach Braff’s RMU is coming into this weekend ready to go against Bentley. Brady Ferguson is killing it, along with Daniel Leavens, who was announced on December 1^st, as AHA player of the month. Don’t forget to check out the Three Rivers Classic, which is coming up ever so soon.

PSU MEN’S ICE HOCKEY TEAM:

Congrats on that championship there. Sure would be a shame if you guys wouldn’t get into a bowl game because of one team . . .

Back to a sport that matters!

Anyway, Penn State is stupid good right now. After they crushed the Sun Devils, they decide to do the same to Michigan. I don’t think saying that Penn State may get to the Frozen Four is not exactly a hot take now. They’ll be taking a deserved break all the way until the beginning of January. Peyton Jones and Ice Smirnov are tearing it up. I cannot stress enough, Denis Smirnov is a kid you want to watch. You don’t put up numbers like this as a freshman, unless you are a damn good player. HE’S A DAMN GOOD PLAYER. Don’t sleep on him; if you have a chance, go watch him.

PSU WOMEN VS RMU WOMEN HELL IN A CELL PT.1:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Hell_In_A_Cell.jpg/300px-Hell_In_A_Cell.jpg

Bummed I couldn’t hype this series a bit more before it happened (thanks stupid old computer) but RMU vs PSU was a great bit of hockey this past weekend. First and foremost, this series should have been a curb-stomping. Penn State isn’t exactly having a great year

(no hate, just bein’ real)

and after two periods in the first game, it seemed to be exactly that. However, give the Lady Nittany Lions a ton of credit, they battled back. Next game was basically Rocky 1. Colonials stormed out of the gate. Two goals in the first, two in the second. Penn State, back on their heels, try and chip away at RMU and manage to get a goal in the second. This is where the goddamn flood gates just open. Penn State goes for 4 goals in the third, scoring the last one with only 13 seconds left in the game. Kudos to the ladies and if you weren’t there, you should be. RMU will be playing Brown on the 30^th and 31^st, while PSU is taking on Quinnipiac on the 30^th and Princeton on the 31^st. Don’t overlook the women’s hockey teams, they are damn good and definitely worth a watch. Part two of HELL IN A CELL will be Feb. 17^th and 18^th.

MERCYHURST WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY TEAM:

Well there’s nothing like being consistent. The Lady Lakers split this past weekend with Lindenwood with a 4-0 win Friday followed by a 3-1 loss on Saturday. Taylor Accursi went apple pickin’ and added three assists from the first game, while Sarah Hine scored the lone goal on Saturday. The Lady Lakers are sort of in the same boat as the Penn State women. Not terrible but still kind of trying to stay above water. The Hurst will take on Princeton on the 10^th and 11^th at 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. respectively.

OTHER NEWS OF NOTE:

• Johnstown Tomahawks wins both their games against the Northeast Generals with 4-2 and 7-2 wins over the Northeast Generals.
• Dartmouth’s one mascot looks like something straight from “The Simpsons”.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Keggy_the_Keg.JPG

• PIHL Standings look like this so far:
  • Varsity AAA:
    • 1^st place – North Allegheny
    • 2^nd place – Peters Township
    • 3^rd place – Seneca Valley
  • Varsity AA West:
    • 1^st place – Mt. Lebanon/Quaker Valley
    • 2^nd place – Moon
    • 3^rd place – North Hills
  • Varsity AA East:
    • 1^st place – Hampton
    • 2^nd place – Plum
    • 3^rd place – Greater Latrobe/Shaler
  • Varsity A East:
    • 1^st place – Kiski Area
    • 2^nd place – Franklin Regional/Indiana
    • Bishop McCort
  • Varsity A West:
    • 1^st place – Baldwin
    • 2^nd place – Chartiers Valley
    • 3^rd place – Montour/Thomas Jefferson

Quick update from last post, we here at the Pensblog are supremely thankful and excited to hear of Nick Chiavetta’s successful surgery and that he is cancer free.

In short: Go Pens, Go Pittsburgh.