Hockey Teams Prepare for Home Openers

Hello, puckheads! Welcome to another edition of hockey previews. Nearly a month into the season we finally have home openers. Neither the men’s nor the women’s opponent this week is performing quite as well as expected. That may bode well for the Buckeyes.

Men 

Last time out the Buckeyes leaned heavily on goaltender Matt Tomkins as they overcame penalty trouble to secure a tie and shootout win over Miami. This week Ohio State puts its undefeated record (1-0-2) on the line in a home-and-home series against another in-state rival, Bowling Green. 

The experienced Falcons were expected to be contenders for both the WCHA title and an NCAA tournament berth this season. They’re coming off their second consecutive 20 win season. A good portion of last year’s stingy defense returns. Junior goaltender Chris Nell, who posted an impressive .930 save percentage and a teensy 1.91 goals against average in 2015-16, is also back.

But if those lofty preseason expectations are to be met Bowling Green needs to bounce back from a rough start. The Falcons come into their series against Ohio State winless in four outings. They were swept by Bemidji State to open the season. Last week they clung to a tie with Western Michigan before the Broncos rolled them 8-2 in the series finale.

Differing records aside, I don’t think the gap between these teams is truly as large as it appears on paper. Neither side is currently performing to its strengths. The Buckeyes’ potential for a lethal offense has yet to be fully realized. The Falcons’ defense is still struggling to find its legs.

This should be another round of hotly contested state-bragging-rights hockey. I won’t be shocked if Bowling Green puts the first nick in Ohio State's record. However I will be very surprised if the Bucks don’t come away with at least one victory.

Extras

• Per Steve Rohlik's pregame press conference, goaltender Christian Frey is day-to-day with an injury.
• After tying Miami, Ohio State remains ranked at No. 19 by USCHO and drops back into the “also receiving votes” group in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll.
• While not officially announced by Ohio State, USCHO is reporting that Rohlik has agreed to a contract extension through the 2020-21 season.
• A postgame meet and greet with members of the team is scheduled for Saturday.

Women

Ohio State split its series at No. 8 Bemidji State last week. It was a fantastic outcome for the young Bucks who have so far managed to earn at least a point in every conference series this season. This week the team opens its home schedule against No. 2 Minnesota.

The Gophers are, once again, ranked among the top teams in both the WCHA and the nation as a whole. They return eight of their top ten scorers. As usual, victory over this team is a tall order.

But, while Minnesota possesses a perfectly respectable 5-1-0 record, the team is not yet dominating like it has in years past. Since the start of WCHA play the Gophers have split a series at Bemidji State and squeaked out a home ice sweep of Minnesota-Duluth. Their average margin of victory in-conference is an uncharacteristically slim 1.33 goals.

One likely reason for this more mortal version of the Gophers is the loss of goaltender Amanda Leveille. She graduated out last season with a career record of 98-9-5, a .947 save percentage and a 1.18 career goals against average. Such stunning numbers are hard to replace.

The Buckeyes, on the other hand, have exceeded expectations. New head coach Nadine Muzerall made a point of talking about the positive early season results in a pregame press conference: 

“In a short span of time we’ve upset quite a few powerful teams and I don’t think that a lot of people thought that we were going to do that. And we did. We took the number one team to overtime...Regardless of the score we still got to that point and stole a point from a number one team. And then we went to Bemidji right after. Our road schedule has been rather difficult, three on the road. And we upset the number eight team. I just want to say that I’m very proud of our girls and what they’ve accomplished in a short span of time. With what I’ve seen in this time, I’m excited to see what they can do in the future because I think it’s very promising.”

The Bucks, energized by their recent success and the home opening crowd, could very well pull off another surprisingly good result this week. It will be tough. Even an underachieving Minnesota squad is hard to beat, but the Gophers overlook the Buckeyes at their peril.