Coming off of a decent showing at the MPAL Stovepipe tournament over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Icers returned to the Ice Pavillion for a few ACHA games. On the slate for the Icers were 3 home games - 2 against ESCHL opponent Delaware, and then the last game of the 2009 calendar year against Niagara.The biggest question that always surrounds this situation is how does the team respond from a drop in the talent level - do they continue to play well? or do they play down to the competition? That's not to say Delaware is bad, but it's a concern for this Icers team. On the positive side, senior captain Matt Kirstein and sophomore forward Kurt Collins are both healthy and able to be inserted back into the lineup.

December 4, vs. Delaware, 2-1 W, SO (2-1): The first period would best be described as feisty. Half way through the period, Nick Seravalli would find his way to the box with a 5-minute major penalty for checking from behind. During this Blue Hen power play, John Conte would join Seravalli in the box in the form of a 10-minute misconduct penalty (not an extra power play, but Conte is in the penalty box for the next 10 minutes). Eventually, the 5-minute man advantage would pay off for Delaware, as they'd put the puck past Teddy Hume to take the 1-0 lead, and hold that to the intermission. The second period saw the Icers gain an early 4-minute power play opportunity, but the Icers looked completely inept.  Even after the fruitless power play, the Icers continued to get out-skated by the Blue Hens. As the 2nd period continued, the Icers began to calm down and gain more control over the game. But the Icers couldn't find the back of the net, and the game remained a 1-0 Delaware lead. The Icers would keep the energy up in the third period, and Chris Cerutti would finally capitalize, tying up the game at 1-1, 5 minutes into the 3rd period. The two teams would get a few more chances, and Paul Daley would get the best chance with just 9 seconds left in the 3rd period. But another save by the Blue Hen goalie, and another game headed to OT. Both teams had a few shots, and a late penalty on Marek Polidor gave the Blue Hens the best chance to win it in OT. But Teddy Hume and the penalty killers would step up big and send the game to a shootout. You know the drill:

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While we were all watching football over Thanksgiving weekend, the Icers found themselves up north, facing off in the 15th Annual Manchester Police Athletic League Stovepipe Hockey Tournament. But instead of the normal slate of ACHA teams, the Icers were up against two NCAA D-II teams (S. New Hampshire and Stonehill) and a D-III team (UMass-Boston). It should be noted that ice hockey has the bottom tiers a bit backwards. To make a long story short, the D-III teams play at a higher level than the D-II teams (D-I is still the best). There are also only 6 teams in the D-II, but I'm getting off topic here. The focus is the tournament, and the Icers would face off against the Southern New Hampshire Penmen on Saturday.

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Apparently the mods are still fat and happy from Turkey-day, so I'll gladly set-up another open thread for football today. I'm sure they're all glad that we can find ways to entertain ourselves. It's one of the last weekends in college football, which means there are a lot of rivalry games. Which means even if the teams aren't that good, there's always the chance for a brawl. And let's be honest - we'd all get a little excited to see a scene from Bloodsport re-enacted on the field.

The Holy War reaches new levels of HATE!!

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[Happy Football Friday all. -KHD]

It's the Friday after Thanksgiving, which means most of you are still stuffed and/or hungover. It also means you've likely figured out that Commercialism Friday is much easier from home - deals and free shipping to be found online! (No, seriously - if you haven't seen some of the deals on Amazon, you need to go check them out.) Digressing, there's college football on today.

The Temple Owls have been led by a QB that just flies past defenses. Get it? HAHAHAHAH!

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I'm not sure what the mods have planned, if anything, so I figured I'd pop this up as an open thread. If they want to bump and add, then that sounds like a plan to me.

Games on tap for today include Green Bay at Detroit (currently tied 7-7 in the 2nd quarter), Oakland at Dallas (4:15pm), and NY Giants at Denver (8:20pm). As for college football, you're looking at the Texas-TAMU game at 8pm. As for me, I'm flipping between the football games and the Home Alone marathon on FX.

Oh, and remember to be thankful and all that jazz associated with today. Good family/friends, good football, good eats - can't ask for much more than that! Feel free to take a day off from hate week to spread some love. Then return to hating tomorrow!

As you wait for the food, or the alcohol, or a football game, I give you this fun game to pass the time - the link to the game is there. Yes, it's from last year, but it's still hilarious and fitting today. Happy Thanksgiving!

Injuries. Suspensions. This Icer team cares not. Okay, they do, and they'd like all these things to stop. But the Icers plow on regardless. As was mentioned in the last post, Marek Polidor and Chris Pronchik were both handed game disqualifications due to their involvement in the end of game scrum against Navy. This resulted in both players being suspended for Friday's game at Rhode Island. Thankfully, John Conte was back after missing the Navy weekend - a much-needed return on a thin defensive corps.

November 13th, @ URI, 4-1 W: With some depleted lines, the Icers looked to hold off an energetic Rhode Island team that was playing in front of their home crowd. And after some early back and forth, the Icers would get the all important first goal on the stick of Nick Seravalli. But this is the Icers we're talking about, and the Rams would get on the board with their own goal late in the period, making it a 1-1 tie after one period. The energy and intensity kept up in the second, and Chris Cerutti would put the Icers back on top just 1:27 into the period. URI would have their chances, but Teddy Hume would come up big time and time again, ensuring the 2-1 Icers lead after two periods. The third period belonged to the Icers, as Mike Broccolo would give the Icers a 2-goal cushion, and that's all Teddy Hume would need. A late empty-net goal by Ryan Paradis would cap the scoring, giving the Icers a huge 4-1 win on the road.

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Sometimes, the schedules play out better than originally planned. After two tougher-than-necessary weekends against West Chester and Drexel, the Icers found themselves in a full home weekend against West Virginia and then a road-trip against a not-as-talented Navy team. These two weekends aligned perfectly, as the Icers continue to fight the injury bug. Senior leader Matt Kirstein (MCL sprain - 3-5 weeks) and junior energy forward Taylor Cera (high ankle sprain - 2-4 weeks) continue to battle injuries. The Icers depth will be tested, but this will also give some of the new players a serious chance to show their abilities. On to the Mountaineers.

October 30, vs WVU, 10-1 W - The Mountaineers would jump out with some energy to open the Friday night game, but it was Paul Daley's goal 3 minutes into the period that gave the Icers the early advantage. Dominic Morrone would add his team-leading 7th goal just two and a half minutes later. As the season has shown, the Icers struggle to keep the opponents away, as WVU would cut the Icers lead to 2-1 with just under 13 minutes left in the 1st period. Tim O'Brien would increase the lead to 3-1on the power play. And then those flood gates opened with goals from Morrone, Broccolo (x2), and Serevalli. And that's just the 1st period, and that's all the Icers would need. A scoreless second period rolled into a 3rd period which included goals by Marek Polidor, Morrone's 3rd for the hat trick, and then Ryan Paradis capped the scoring on a breakaway with one second left, giving the Icers the 10-1 win. To further show the domination, the Icers outshot the Mountaineers, 50-12.

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The first two weekends of hockey could be best described as a small roller-coaster. After being gifted a win in the first game of the season, the team turned it around and completely destroyed Towson the next day. The Icers then found themselves on the road at rival Ohio University. Both games saw tough, high energy action, and both teams would leave the weekend with a win. And to be fair, it's very impressive to go into OU with all the new and somewhat inexperienced players and leave with a weekend split.

The past two weekends of hockey have had a similar flow. Penn State was at home on Friday night, then was on the road on Saturday. And both weekends were the first games against ACHA foes within the ESCHL. First up was the newest member, West Chester, who was coming off of back-to-back losses to Arizona State and Oklahoma. The next weekend was a weekend set against Drexel - one of the lesser teams in the ACHA.

October 16, vs WCU, 7-1 W: Missing Dan Loucks and George Saad due to fights from late in the Saturday game at Ohio, the Icers looked to keep things rolling and keep West Chester on their losing streak. The Icers would strike first, using two early power plays to take a 2-0 lead in the first 8 minutes. (Goals by Dominic Morrone and Taylor Cera.) Ryan Paradis would cap off a dominant first period with a goal of his own, going up 3-0 after one period. The second period would be more of the same, with Tim O'Brien and Chris Cerutti finding the net, and giving the Icers a 5-0 lead after 2 periods. The 3rd period saw no comeback attempt by WCU. Chris Pronchik and Erik Steinour would sandwich the lone WCU goal (scored on the power play), giving the Icers a solid 7-1 win. Teddy Hume continued to play well, stopping 26 of 27 shots. And the production from the returning players - Cera, Paradis, Timmy OB, Cerutti, Pronchik - will be necessary to sustain the winning ways.

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While most other teams had already started the 2009-10 ACHA season, the Icers didn't pick up business until the first weekend in October. An opening weekend series against Towson was tabbed as a good way to get the new guys up to ACHA game speed. Of course, the following weekend saw a road-trip to Byrd Arena to face the ever-tough Ohio Bobcat fans. Oh, and their team is pretty solid too. Not to mention both sides hate each other. Guess there's no better way to test the new guys like throwing them into the fire.

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