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Atlantic Hockey Weekly Award Winners for Games Through February 17
Atlantic Hockey Player and Goaltender of the Week
	JOSH KASSEL - ARMY Junior, Goaltender, Greensburg, Pa. Kassel posted back-to-back shutouts for the second time this season as Army clinched home ice for the playoffs with a pair of 4-0 victories over AIC, and set the conference record for unbeaten streak. Kassel made 17 saves, including 10 in the third period Friday at West Point. The next day, he made 24 saves, including nine in each of the first two periods. For the weekend, Kassel made 41 saves as Army extended its unbeaten streak to a conference-best 8-0-1.
Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week
	JOE CALVI, BENTLEY Freshman, Goaltender, New Lenox, Ill. Calvi stopped 56 of the 59 shots he faced this weekend to earn a pair of wins against Connecticut. He posted his second shutout of the season on Friday, making 32 saves in a 6-0 win, then made 24 saves, including 12 in the third period and two in overtime, in a 4-3 win on Saturday night. Calvi compiled a .949 save percentage and 1.46 goals against average this weekend.
Atlantic Hockey Honor Roll
Zach McKelvie, Army (Jr, D, New Brighton, Minn.) - McKelvie, a defenseman, scored the first goal in Friday's 4-0 win over AIC and then netted the second tally in Saturday's 4-0 victory as Army swept AIC. McKelvie now has three goals on the season. Owen Meyer, Army (So, F, Dundee, Ill.) - Meyer had two goals and two assists to help Army clinch home ice and set the conference record for an unbeaten streak during a weekend sweep of AIC. Meyer had a goal and assist each night in a pair of 4-0 victories as Army ran its unbeaten streak to 8-0-1. Anthony Canzoneri, Bentley (So, F, Dundee, Ill.) - Canzoneri posted five points this weekend with a goal and four assists. He tallied a career-best four assists on Friday in a 6-0 win over Connecticut, the first four-assist performance for a Falcon since February 2005. The next night, he scored Bentley's first goal in a 4-3 win over the Huskies. Blake Hamilton, Bentley (So, F, Edmonton, ALB) - Hamilton scored three goals this weekend, including both game-winning goals, to help Bentley to a sweep of Connecticut. He netted a pair of goals for the second straight game in Friday night's 6-0 rout of the Huskies, then scored the game-winner in overtime to lift the Falcons to a 4-3 win on Saturday night. Hamilton has now scored five goals in the last three games. Cory Conacher, Canisius (Fr, F, Burlington, ONT) - Conacher led the Griffs with two goals during a weekend series with Holy Cross. The freshman tallied his fourth score of the year in the opener, notching a goal with 2:21 left in the second to pull the Griffs within one. In the finale, Conacher scored with 3:57 left in the game to lift the Griffs to a 2-1 victory over the Crusaders. The goal was Conacher's fifth of the season and his first collegiate game-winning score. He has now posted 14 points (5g, 9a) in just 14 games this season. David Kasch, Canisius (Sr, F, Sault Ste. Marie, ONT) - Kasch helped lead the Griffs to a win over Holy Cross, recording appoint in both of Canisius' goals in a 2-1 victory. The senior got the Griffs on the scoreboard late in the second period to knot the game, scoring his team-leading 10th goal of the season. He then posted an assist on the game-winning goal with 3:57 left in the game. Jason Krispel, Connecticut (Fr, F, Cypress, Calif.) - Krispel had a career high with three points Saturday in the overtime loss to Bentley. He was first player this season to record three points for the Huskies, as he had a hand in every goal with one goal and two assists. Andrew Olson, Connecticut (Fr, F, Alexandria, Minn.) - Olson was strong entire weekend, with a career high nine shots on net on Friday followed with eight more on Saturday. His persistence was rewarded Saturday when he scored his team high 11th goal of the season. He made it a two point night when he assisted on Krispel's game tying goal in the third period. Iam Dams, Holy Cross (So, G, Manotick, ONT) - Dams stopped 32 of 34 shots, including 17 saves in the second period on Sunday against Canisius. Rob Forshner, Holy Cross (So, F, Sundre, ALB) - Forshner recorded one goal and two assists for three points in the two-game series at Canisius. In the 3-2 win on Saturday, he had two assists, while on Sunday he netted a power play goal. Forshner has three goals and 15 assists for 18 points on the season. His 15 assists and 18 points are career best marks. Adam Roy, Holy Cross (Fr, G, Feeding Hills, Mass.) - Roy stopped 22 of 24 shots in the 3-2 win at Canisius on Saturday. Ben Cottreau, Mercyhurst (Sr, F, Toronto, ONT) - A goal and two assists in weekend split at Sacred Heart. Kirk Medernach, Mercyhurst (Jr, D, Cudworth, SASK) - First career two assist game Friday in 4-3 win at Sacred Heart. Bobby Phillips, Mercyhurst (Jr, D, Carmel, Ind.) - First career game-winner Friday in 4-3 win at Sacred Heart. Matt Smith, R.I.T. (Sr, F, Toronto, ONT) - Smith became the first Tiger to reach the 20-goal plateau since the team moved to Division I in 2005, as he ripped a wrist shot under the crossbar on the power-play 5:07 into the second period to give RIT a 2-0 lead against #20 Niagara. With RIT trailing 3-2, he ripped a shot that was tipped in by Brennan Sarazin with 1:04 left in regulation with the net pulled for a sixth attacker. RIT earned a 3-3 tie. Smith has five goals and two assists during a four-game point scoring streak. He has 20 goals and 10 assists this season. Stefan Drew, Sacred Heart (Jr, G, Oakbank, MAN) - Drew made 31 saves to help the Pioneers earn a victory over Mercyhurst Saturday night. The performance included 23 saves in the final two periods. Drew also stopped 23 Laker shots Friday night. Dave Jarman, Sacred Heart (So, F, Toronto, ONT) - Jarman tallied a goal and three assists against Mercyhurst for a four point weekend. He scored SHU's first goal Friday night and assisted on the third Pioneer tally. Saturday he recorded helpers on SHU's third goal and on the empty-net goal that sealed the Pioneers win. Alexandre Parent, Sacred Heart (Sr, F, Boisbriand, QUE) - Parent had a four point weekend, scoring three goals and adding an assist in SHU's split the Mercyhurst. Friday night he assisted on the Pioneers' second goal and then scored the third goal of the game. Saturday night he scored the second and fifth goals of SHU's win. The senior captain has now scored a team high 13 goals and is second on the the team with 30 points. It's the second straight four point weekend for Parent who currently has a 12 game point-scoring streak.
Atlantic Hockey Team Notes
Air Force Air Force has earned points in all but one weekend this season (Army)...AFA and Mercyhurst have played six career games and each team has won three...Air Force posted its first shutout of the season with a 7-0 win over Mercyhurst, Feb. 9...AFA's seven goals were the most this season and the most since scoring seven vs. Alabama-Huntsville, Oct. 27, 2006...Prior to Saturday's win over Mercyhurst, Air Force had only scored 25 goals in 11 league road games for an average of just 2.2 goals per game. However, AFA exploded for seven vs. the Lakers...Air Force continues to be among the stingiest teams in the nation in shots allowed. The Falcons held Mercyhurst to just 22 and 25 shots in the two-game series and is allowing just 24.8 shots per game this season...Air Force scored first vs. the Lakers on Saturday and is now 10-2-3 when scoring first this season. The only two losses came at Army...Air Force tied its season-high with four power-play goals this season in the second game vs. Mercyhurst...The Falcons are 7-2-1 this season and 22-2-5 in the last two years when winning the special teams. The only two losses are vs. Army...Greg Flynn is still the top scoring defenseman in the AHA with 23 points (4-19-23). He had two assists on Saturday vs. MC...Brent Olson continues to lead Air Force is scoring with 29 points in 30 games this season. He had two assists on Saturday...Josh Frider tied his career high with two goals and three points on Saturday...Matt Fairchild tied his career-high with two assists and three points on Saturday...Freshman Owen Kelly scored his first career game-winner on Saturday with the first goal of the game...Sophomore Andrew Volkening posted his first shutout of the season and the second of his career on Saturday by stopping all 25 shots...Freshman Derrick Burnett has an assist in four of his last five games...Sophomore Jeff Hajner had two points (1-1-2) on Saturday and now has a point in five of his last six games. He has scored in 15 of his last 19 games. American International The AIC Hockey team dropped two games to Army over the weekend. The Yellow Jackets, who scored 11 goals the weekend prior, were slowed by Black Knight junior goalie Josh Kassel who didn't give up a score in either contest. It marked the first time AIC had been shut out on back-to-back nights since dropping two to Wayne State in the 2000-2001 season. The Yellow Jackets will face UConn in a home-in-home series next weekend, the Jackets are 1-1-0 against the Huskies so far this season. Following the match-up with UConn, AIC will head to Colorado to finish their regular season against Air Force. Army The Black Knights clinched home ice for the playoffs and set the Atlantic Hockey Association record for longest unbeaten streak with a pair of 4-0 victories over American International. Army moved into first-place in the conference standings with 31 points and will host a first-round playoff series at Tate Rink March 7-9 ... Army is the first team to clinch home ice ... Army is now 8-0-1 in its last nine games, eclipsing eight-game unbeaten streaks by Mercyhurst and Holy Cross ... Josh Kassel extended his scoreless streak to 170:02 with his third and fourth shutouts of the season ... Kassel now has eight career shutouts which moves him into a tie for third career all-time at Army ... Kassel made 41 saves and helped Army sweep its fifth weekend opponent this season ... Army won the season series with AIC 4-0, scoring 19 goals and allowing four ... Army concluded its nine-game homestand with a 7-1-1 mark ... Defenseman Ian McDougall earned his first points of the season with an assist Friday ... Owen Meyer had a goal and assist in each contest ... Joey Ammon and Zach McKelvie also had a goal in each game ... Luke Flicek, Robb Ross and Aaron Anderson had multiple-point weekends ... Army will play at Bentley this weekend with games Friday and Saturday set for 7:05 p.m. Bentley Bentley earned its first sweep of the season this weekend with a pair of wins over Connecticut, 6-0 on Friday in Watertown and a 4-3 overtime triumph on Saturday in Storrs ... It was the first sweep for the Falcons since a December 2006 sweep of Canisius ... Sophomore Blake Hamilton scored the game-winning goal on both nights with a pair of goals on Friday and the overtime goal on Saturday ... Hamilton has now scored five goals in the last three games ... Saturday's win was the first overtime win for Bentley since a November 2006 win at RIT ... Freshman goaltender Joe Calvi earned his second shutout of the season on Friday night ... Two shutouts ranks Calvi in a tie for third on Bentley's all-time career list ... Calvi is the first Falcon to post two shutouts in a season since Simon St. Pierre in 2002-03 ... Junior Anthony Canzoneri tallied a career-best four assists on Friday ... Canzoneri is the first Falcon with four assists in a game since Paul Markarian in February 2005 ... Bentley has not been shutout in the last 28 games, the longest such streak in the league ... The Falcons host Army next weekend in their final home games of the regular season ... Bentley and Army split their meetings in West Point in November. Canisius The Griffs split a pair of games with the Holy Cross Crusaders, falling in the opener, 3-2, and winning the finale, 2-1. Canisius now stands in sixth place in the Atlantic Hockey standings, four points behind Air Force for fifth. The two teams meet in a crucial series this weekend. In the Canisius victory, senior David Kasch posted two points on a goal and an assist, while freshman Cory Conacher scored the game-winning goal with 3:57 remaining in the game. Conacher's goal was his fifth of the season and his first collegiate game-winning score. The rookie has now recorded 14 points (5g, 9a) in just 14 games. Kasch's points extended his career-best totals to 21 points and 10 goals. Sophomore Jason Weeks registered an assist on the game-winning score. The Griffs are now 9-2-3 when Weeks records a point and 1-14-2 when he fails to post a point. The win was also the first for Canisius when scoring three or less goals. The Griffs are now 1-12-2 when scoring two or fewer goals. The Griffs outshot the Crusaders, 34-17, during Sunday's game. It marked just the third time this season that Canisius has outshot an opponent and the first time in a victory. Freshman Taylor Anderson (Wetumpka, Ala.) stopped 16 shots to earn his second collegiate victory. In four league games, Anderson has posted a goals against average of 1.88 and a save percentage of .943. In Saturday night's contest, senior Kyle Bushee and Conacher both posted power-play scores, while senior Bryce Luker recorded 30 saves in goal. The Griffs have now scored an extra-man goal in a season-best five consecutive games. Canisius welcomes Air Force to the Buffalo State Sports Arena for a crucial series. The two teams will meet on Friday at 7:05 p.m. and on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. Connecticut The Huskies suffered another blow Friday when goaltender Brad McInnis suffered what appears to be a season ending knee injury, only 3:17 into the game. This was on top of losing former starter Beau Erickson to a knee injury exactly one week previously. That leaves the goaltending job now to freshman Jon Glant. Coming straight out of prep school (Hebron Academy) without any junior hockey experience, Glant was a bit shaky on Friday giving up six goals while making 16 saves, but had a very good game in his first career start Saturday night. He recorded 27 saves, including a couple of spectacular saves during the overtime period. In a bit of good news on the goaltending front, Erickson's knee injury is not as severe as previously thought, and he probably won't need surgery. He was well enough to take the ice as the backup goalie for Saturday night as UConn was down to one healthy goalie. The Huskies will have another goalie next weekend in place to backup Glant. Olson's 11th goal of the season puts him only two goals behind Chris Myhro for the Division I Husky freshman record of 13. Despite the goaltending injuries, it is not unusual for UConn head coach Bruce Marshall to use several goaltenders during the season. Last year at various times he played Erickson, as well as Scott Tomes and Jon Anderson, with each goalie making at least seven appearances in net. The Huskies and AIC face off this week having split their first two meetings with each team winning at home. The two teams have been nearly even in their all-time series throughout divisions II and I, however the series goes in streaks. AIC was dominant in the series early on, while UConn has taken control more recently. The last time the Yellow Jackets were able to win the yearly series with UConn was the 2002-03 season, when they won both meetings with the Huskies. Holy Cross With the 3-2 victory at Canisius on Saturday, head coach Paul Pearl recorded his 200th career win. Pearl is in his 13th season as the head coach of Holy Cross as he is the all-time winningest coach in the history of the program with a record of 200-182-43. Holy Cross ranks third in the nation and leads the league in fewest penalty minutes per game with 9.8. The Crusaders' 23.3 power play percentage is ranked third in the nation and leads Atlantic Hockey. The Crusaders are 35-150 on power play opportunities. Senior Dale Reinhardt currently has 45 goals and 71 assists for 116 points in 132 career games. Reinhardt is ranked seventh on the all-time Holy Cross Division I assists list, while he is eighth in points and goals. This season he is second on the team in assists with 17 and points with 24, while he is fourth in goals with seven. He is a finalist for the Frozen Four Skills Challenge. Freshman goalie Adam Roy's 630 saves are currently ranked fourth on the all-time Holy Cross Division I single-season list. Freshman forward Everett Sheen's 14 goals lead the team. Sheen also has seven assists as he is third on the team in points with 21. Sophomore Brodie Sheahan leads the team with 18 assists and 29 points, while he is second on the team in goals with 11. Holy Cross is 5-5-4 on its opponents' home ice this season. Mercyhurst Mercyhurst snapped an 8-game dry spell against Sacred Heart (0-7-1) with Friday's 4-3 win. The Lakers hadn't defeated the Pioneers since a 3-1 win in Erie on November 19, 2005. Mercyhurst hadn't won at Sacred Heart since a 5-4 verdict February 7 of 2003. Junior defenseman Bobby Phillips had his first career game-winner in Friday's 4-3 win and junior defenseman Kirk Medernach had his first career two assist game. Sophomore Matt Fennell tallied his 5th power play goal of the season Saturday. He has 6 total goals. The Lakers gave up a shorthanded goal in each game against SHU and have now scored and given up seven shorthanded goals this season. Mercyhurst, fourth in AH with 27 points, will host third place RIT next Friday and Saturday. The Tigers have 28 points and lead the all-time series 20-12-3. The teams split a pair of games last November in Rochester. Rochester Institute of Technology Brennan Sarazin's deflection with 1:04 left in regulation lifted the Tigers to a 3-3 tie against #20 Niagara on Saturday before a sellout crowd at the Ritter Arena. RIT had goaltender Jared DeMichiel pulled and were on a power-play. Goaltender Jared DeMichiel made his second straight start and first of his collegiate career in front of the home fans at the Ritter. He stopped 30 shots and had his first collegiate assist. It was RIT's final non-conference game of the season. RIT went 2-3-1 out of conference, with four of those games against ranked squads. At one time, all six non-conference teams were ranked. In addition, the Tigers are 2-1-1 against teams that were ranked in the top-20. Senior Matt Smith became the first Tiger to reach the 20-goal plateau since the team moved to Division I in 2005, as he ripped a wrist shot under the crossbar on the power-play 5:07 into the second period to give RIT a 2-0 lead. Sophomore defenseman Dan Ringwald now has a five-game point scoring streak, with a goal and 10 assists during that span. He leads the nation in scoring by a defenseman with 29 points in 29 games. Smith is tied for third in the nation with 12 power-play goals and is tied for eighth with 20 goals. Smith has a four-game point scoring streak, while Simon Lambert has a five-game points scoring streak. Lambert has five goals and four assists during that span. He now has 17 goals in a season for the third straight season. Lambert moved into to a tie for 23rd in all-time scoring at RIT with 139 points. The Tiger power-play is on fire, converting on 37 percent with 10 goals in 27 chances over the last five games. RIT travels to Mercyhurst for a huge two-game series this weekend that will help determine the top spots in Atlantic Hockey. The two teams split earlier in the season at RIT, with Mercyhurst winning 6-3 and RIT garnering a 3-2 OT win the next night. The Tigers fired 93 shots on goal in those two games. Sacred Heart The Pioneers split a weekend series with Mercyhurst in Milford, losing 4-3 Friday night before rebounding for a 6-3 victory on Saturday. Senior Alex Parent had a three goals and an assist to record his second straight four point weekend. Parent now has a 12 game point-scoring streak. The captain has 131 career points, two shy of third place in SHU history. Junior Bear Trapp had a three point weekend with a goal and two assists. He no has 71 career assists, moving him into fifth place all-time. Sophomore Dave Jarman has a four point weekend with a goal and three assists and now has a nine game point-scoring streak. Sophomore Erik Boisvert tallied a goal an assist on the weekend and extended his point streak to seven straight games. The Pioneers meet Holy Cross in a home-and-home series next weekend. The teams meet in Worcester on Friday night with the rematch Saturday in Milford.