Bentley Opens Season Saturday Night at No. 15 Quinnipiac
The Matchup: The long road towards March begins in earnest Saturday night when the Bentley hockey team takes the ice for the first time in the 2014-15 season Saturday night at Quinnipiac of the ECAC at High Point Solutions Arena in Hamden, Conn.
The Falcons had a highly successful 2013-14 season, tying a program record for Division I wins with 19 and finishing second in the Atlantic Hockey regular season, but came up short of their goal when they were upset by Canisius in the quarterfinals of the AHA Playoffs.
Saturday's game will be the first of six non-conference games for Bentley; two against Rensselaer and Penn State and one against Harvard are the other five. But Bentley doesn't have to wait long to open its Atlantic Hockey schedule. Next weekend they play a home-and-home series with Sacred Heart, with the home-opener at Ryan Arena next Saturday night at 7:05.
Quinnipiac went 24-10-6 last season, finished third in the ECAC regular season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Two seasons ago they were in the NCAA finals but lost to Yale.
Follow the Games: Links to live video, audio and stats can be found on Bentleyfalcons.com. In-game updates will also be on Twitter @BentleyFalcons. Additionally, every Bentley game this season can be watched online. Every Atlantic Hockey game will be broadcast on the newly rechristened AtlanticHockey.TV (formerly America One).
Who's Back: The Falcons return 18 players from last year's squad, 10 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders. Leading the returning forwards are Alex Grieve, Andrew Gladiuk, Brett Switzer and Max French. Grieve (25-22-47) finished 6th in the nation in goals and was t-9th in points. Gladiuk led the nation in power play goals (16) and was t-8th in the nation in total goals (22). Switzer (11-19-30) finished t-20th in the AHA in points, and French was third among AHA rookies in points.
The defensemen core is led by Steve Weinstein and Matt Blomquist. Weinstein was a first team All-Atlantic Hockey choice last season after leading the country in points per game among defensemen (1.03) and finishing fifth nationally in assists (37). Blomquist was named second team All-Atlantic Hockey and was 4th nationally in ppg among defensemen (0.87). Senior Matt Maher adds experience with 104 career games to his credit.
Senior Blake Dougherty and junior Gabe Antoni are the returning goalies.
Who's New: Bentley added eight newcomers to its roster, seven freshmen and one transfer. The breakdown is five forwards, two defensemen and one goalie. The five forwards are Andrew McDonald (Fargo Force, USHL), Ryan McMurphy (Tri-City Storm, USHL), Kyle Schmidt (Sioux City, USHL), Matt Sieckhaus (Amarillo Bulls, NAHL) and Vincent Russo (Junior Bruins, USPHL). The defensemen are Chris Buchanan (Fargo Force, USHL) and Billy Eiserman (Chicago Steel, USHL), who is a junior and transferred from UMass-Lowell. Jayson Argue (Nanaimo Clippers, BCHL) is the goalie.
Captains: Grieve will captain the team this season, taking the mantle from Jared Rickord. The assistant captains are Switzer, Weinstein and Alex Kubiak.
High Scorers: Grieve is second among active players in the NCAA in career goals (50), behind another AHA player, Robert Morris' Cody Wydo (65). Grieve is also fourth among active players in points (112). Weinstein, with 72 assists, is fourth among the active leaders in assists.
Season Openers: Bentley is 3-6-1 in its last 10 season-openers, but has won two straight. Two seasons ago they defeated Sacred Heart at home 7-1, and last season they went on the road to knock off Nebraska-Omaha 6-4. The last defeat was the 2011-12 season-opener to Michigan, 5-1.
Series History: Saturday's game will be the 52nd all-time meeting between Bentley and Quinnipiac. The two programs are former rivals from the MAAC and the early days of Atlantic Hockey before the Bobcats left for the ECAC. The only school's Bentley has played more are Holy Cross (54) and Sacred Heart and Canisius (53 each).
The previous meeting came last season, a 4-3 win for Quinnipiac. The Falcons trailed 4-1, but got back in the game on goals from Justin Breton and Switzer, but could not find the tying goal.
Bentley last opened its season against Quinnipiac for the 2010-11 campaign.
Looking at Quinnipiac: The Bobcats return five of their top-10 scorers from last season, including leading scorer, sophomore Sam Anas (22-21-43), who led the nation in scoring among rookies in 2013-14 and was the ECAC co-Rookie of the Year. Quinnipiac features three NHL draft picks on its roster, senior forward Matthew Peca (TBL), and sophomore defensemen Connor Clifton (ARI) and Devon Toews (NYI). Junior goalie Michael Garteig returns after starting all 40 games last season, going 24-10-6 with a 1.94 GAA.
Up Next: Bentley plays a home-and-home series next weekend against Sacred Heart to open Atlantic Hockey play. Friday's game is at Milford Ice Pavilion, and Saturday is at Ryan Arena in Watertown.