The Niagara hockey team wraps up the 2013-14 Atlantic Hockey Association regular season with a home series against Air Force this weekend. Niagara will host the Tigers on Friday and Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. at Dwyer Arena.
Niagara (10-17-5; 10-10-5 AHA) enters the final weekend of the regular season tied with Canisius with 25 points each in the AHA standings, but NU wins the tiebreaker against the Griffs for possession of sixth place. The Purple Eagles can finish as high as sixth in the league standings, and no lower than eighth, ensuring NU will play a first round series for the first time since becoming a member of the AHA back in 2010-11 where the Purple and White dropped a 6-3 decision to cross-town rival Canisius in a single-elimination contest.
Last weekend the Purple Eagles went 0-1-1 against Mercyhurst in a two-game tilt, drawing 3-3 on Friday, while falling the Lakers 4-2 on Saturday.
HOW TO CATCH THE GAMES
• Saturday’s game at Dwyer will be available on LCTV, with both Niagara’s games against Air Force being broadcast live on 1340 WLVL. Jeremy White will be on broadcast duties on Friday and Paul Hamilton cover Saturday’s game.
• Live stats for all NU home games are available via www.purpleeagles.com. The stats can be accessed from the main page under the event calendar section. Scroll down to the game, and click on the bars to the right that represent LiveStats.
DON’T MISS OUT!
• Tickets for both games are still available so call the Niagara Tickets Office (located inside Dwyer Arena) at 716-286-TIXX, visit www.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets or by emailing [email protected] to reserve your seats today!
HONORING THE SENIORS
• On Saturday, the Purple Eagles will honor seniors Ryan Rashid, Patrick Divjak, Kevin Ryan and Matt Williams.
• The quartet has helped lead NU to a 68-51-23 record in four seasons. In 2012-13, as juniors, this group helped lead the Purple Eagles to a Atlantic Hockey Association Regular Season Title and a trip to the NCAA Division I West Regionals, becoming the first AHA team to earn an at-large bid since the conference’s inception in 2003.
• The quartet have combined for 67 goals, 181 assists and 251 points in 531 games played.
NIAGARA TIDBITS
• Isaac Kohls and Hugo Turcotte are neck-in-neck when it comes to who leads the Purple Eagle statistical board. Kohls is tops on the team in points (24), and goals (12), while Turcotte, who has 22 points on the season, is tops on the team in assists with 13, while freshman Vincent Muto and Kohls are one behind with 12 helpers. Ryan Rashid has also been a key offensive contributor, pocketing 10 goals and nine assists in 12 games.
• Matt Williams is first with a +13 plus/minus rating.
• Isaac Kohls leads the squad with 108 shots on goal. Patrick Divjak is close behind with 105 looks on net.
• Freshmen goaltenders Jackson Teichroeb (4-11-3) and Adrian Ignagni (6-6-2) have split time between the pipes in 32 games thus far, with Teichroeb owning a .900 save percentage and a 2.95 goals-against average and Ignagni with a .900 save percentage and a 3.11 goals-against average.
DEPTH PERCEPTION
• Twenty-four of the 27 Purple Eagles on the active roster (including goaltenders) have registered at least one point this season.
• NU have secured points from all the classes, as the freshmen lead the way with 81 points, with the sophomores not far behind with 61 of 232 Purple Eagles points. The seniors have collected 47 points, while the juniors have pocketed 43 points.
BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK
• NU’s Ryan Rashid is one point from being the first Purple Eagle to net four consecutive 20 point seasons since Chris Moran achieved it from the 2006-07 through the 2009-10 season.
• Rashid has pocketed 20-plus points during his first three seasons as a Purple Eagle: 26 as a rookie, and 21 as a sophomore and junior. The co-captain currently has 19 points off 10 goals and nine assists.
SERIES HISTORY
• Air Force and Niagara will meet for the 52nd time with NU holding a 29-18-4 lead in the series that began in 1996 when both teams were independents.
• The 31 times played while both programs were members of the College Hockey America conference saw NU win 22 of 31 meetings.
• Air Force has had the upper hand since becoming AHA rivals, holding a 7-2-1 lead in the series.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
• Air Force currently owns a 19-11-4 overall mark, while holding a 14-8-3 AHA record. The Falcons are tied for third place in the AHA standings with UConn as both teams have 31 points to their name.
• The Falcons’ last pair of games came against RIT on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22. Air Force took game one, 4-3, with Jason Torf’s 28-save effort, while the Tigers pocketed a 3-2 victory the following day to split the weekend series.
• Air Force is averaging 3.00 goals a game and are allowing 2.71, placing them 22nd and 32nd in the nation, respectively.
• The power play has gone 21-for-134, while the penalty kill is 95-for-118, ranking them 47th and 41st in the NCAA, respectively.
• Cole Gunner leads the offense with 41 points off 14 goals and 27 assists. Chad Demers is just two points behind Gunner with 14 goals and 24 assists, while Scott Holm has cracked the 20-point mark (26) with 11 goals and 15 helpers.
• In the net, Jason Torf (11-6-4) has played the majority of games, playing in 21, while Chris Truehl (8-3-0) has also seen some time between the pipes. Torf owns a .911 save percentage and a 2.60 goals against average, while Truehl has made 278 saves for a .921 save percentage and a 2.01 goals against average.
PLAYOFF UPDATE
• Mercyhurst clinched the AHA regular season title last week, while Bentley, Air Force, UConn and Robert Morris are vying for the remaining three bye slots, with the odd team out finishing fifth.
• Niagara and Canisius, who clinched first-round home games, and Holy Cross are fighting for the sixth through eighth spots. The 9-11 slots are being fought for by RIT, AIC and Sacred Heart, while Amy clinched the 12th spot some time ago.
• This will be the first time since the 2010-11 season where the Purple Eagles will not earn a first-round bye since entering the AHA. Niagara played Canisius in a single-elimination playoff game on March 5, 2011. The Purple and White were derailed by its cross-town rival, 6-3.
• Round one of the Atlantic Hockey tournament will run Friday, March 7 through Sunday, March 9, with round two being played the following weekend (March 14-March 16). Both rounds will be best two out of three played at the home site of the higher seed.
• The semifinals (March 21) and final (March 23) will be contested at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y.
