We saw a number of rules changes in college hockey this past offseason. Some of them got plenty of publicity and are probably no surprise at this point, even to hardcore fans.
But one that did not ended up giving us a very strange start to Saturday’s season opener between UMD and Arizona State at Amsoil Arena.
1. The NCAA passed a rule this season mandating a penalty be called on any player who is not off the ice when the pregame warmup is supposed to end, which comes with 23 minutes on the pregame clock. Officials have been told to call this, and UMD’s Luke Mylymok and Arizona State’s Lukas Sillinger consequently spent the first two minutes of the game in the penalty box because it was ruled they did not leave the ice before that magic time.
(This wasn’t the only application of the rule Saturday. Minnesota State was called for this as well, putting the Mavericks short-handed to start an exhibition game at Omaha. In both cases, the officials were able to send a message without it impacting anything important. The game in Omaha was an exhibition, and they called players on both teams in Duluth.)
There are two somewhat similar rules that were passed over the summer, this being the one that can lead to on-ice consequences. The basic idea is to put a stop to the gamesmanship that often comes at the end of warmups, where players over the years have waited out opponents so they can be the last one off the ice, or sometimes will shoot a puck to the opponent’s end of the ice once that team has cleared the rink. These things have been more commonplace — and discussed — in NHL circles but have been a thing in the college game. The other new rule prohibits players from being on the ice before the pregame warmup. This is more of a thing that media and staff will have noticed, as it was more common before fans were even allowed in buildings pregame. Players would go on the ice in workout clothes, sometimes to stickhandle or even shoot pucks on the fresh ice. The NCHC put a stop to it not too long ago, but now it is a standard rule in the game. There are safety concerns, and if players from both teams are on the ice, it can lead to trash talk and unnecessary pregame escalation of tensions.
In the end, one team with 12 newcomers (UMD) beat another team with 12 newcomers (Arizona State) 3-2 in overtime, thanks to UMD getting two goals from newbies while ASU only got one.
2. UMD dressed nine of its new faces Saturday, and many of them made an immediate impact. None bigger than Isaac Howard and Derek Daschke.
Howard was noticeable at a few different points. He led a two-on-one rush with U.S. NTDP teammate Cole Spicer where he sent a shot wide of ASU goalie TJ Semptimphelder from the right circle. He isn’t afraid to engage physically on the forecheck, and man alive can he shoot it. Howard picked up the first of what we hope are many, many goals in these colors to tie the game early in the third on a UMD power play.
It was Daschke who got the overtime winner. He won a puck battle in the UMD zone during three-on-three play and ran a nice give and go with captain Tanner Laderoute, who put the puck on a tee for Daschke in the high slot, and the Miami graduate transfer did not miss for his 25th career goal.
Besides them, I thought Dominic James and Quinn Olson had very nice games for UMD. They combined to get UMD on the board in the second period.
Aiden Dubinsky was very good in his UMD debut on defense. He can skate, and he defended very well. It was his step-up in the offensive zone that allowed UMD to keep possession before James’ goal, and Dubinsky got his first collegiate point on the play.
3. Semptimphelder — making his Arizona State debut after transferring from Northeastern — was sharp, making 38 saves. His counterpart, junior Zach Stejskal, was also very good. Stejskal made a few saves with a high degree of difficulty. And coaches talk a lot about goalies making timely saves, none of Stejskal’s was more timely than stopping Demetrios Koumontzis on a short-handed breakaway late in the third.
Stejskal looked sharp from the outset, a very good way for him to kick off a season where UMD coach Scott Sandelin all but declared him the No. 1 goaltender in the runup to the opener. Appearing with me on my radio show a couple weeks ago, he indicated Stejskal was ahead of Matthew Thiessen and Zach Sandy, and he did the same thing at his press conference Wednesday.
(Stejskal was bumped hard in the head during a rush late in the third period, forcing a stoppage with five minutes to go as he tried to collect himself in the crease. After being attended to by the UMD staff, Stejskal stayed in the game. Thiessen did come on the ice and start stretching by the UMD bench in case he was needed.)
4. UMD had a few defensive breakdowns (both teams did, frankly), which isn’t unexpected at this time of year. None of them, though, were more glaring than a rush by the Sun Devils just past the halfway mark of the third. Two Arizona State players drove the net, and while Stejskal made the first save, he couldn’t corral the rebound and Bemidji State transfer Lucas Sillinger banged it home for his second of the game to give the Sun Devils a 3-2 lead.
Or so we thought.
UMD coach Scott Sandelin almost immediately challenged the goal, claiming Stejskal was run into on the play. Low and behold, the overhead confirmed Sandelin’s suspicions (which were radioed to the bench from UMD’s coaches booth upstairs, where director of hockey operations Christian Koelling and staff sit during games). The breakdown that led to this mess in front of Stejskal will undoubtedly be addressed, but the goal disappearing from the scoreboard was a big moment in this game.
It also appears to be a good call. Sillinger didn’t shoot the puck very high, but Stejskal can’t get up from the prone position because of the contact that came in from his right. This is — dare I say — a goal that should probably come off the board every time, no matter who scores it.
Good challenge by the UMD staff, which starts a new-ish challenge system* 1-0.
(That’s another rule change. Goalie interference calls now must be challenged, no more stopping the game because the officials think a goalie was bumped on a play. Had the call stood, it would have cost UMD its timeout, with further unsuccessful challenges resulting in a penalty for delay of game.)
5. Arizona State has some real talent. That top line — Robert Mastrosimone, Josh Doan, and Sillinger — is going to cause a lot of teams problems. They were the Sun Devils’ best and most consistent forwards throughout the game. But their depth players have some skill and snarl to them, and Semptimphelder gives them a dimension in goal they might have been missing to a certain extent since Joey Daccord — who owns basically all of ASU’s Division I goaltending records — turned pro.
UMD has to be more aware of the Sun Devils in transition, but that’s something that will be worked on over time. The Bulldogs can do a better job of getting to the front of the net to create traffic and get after rebounds, again something that will become more and more refined over the course of a season.
6. Best wishes to St. Cloud State defenseman Josh Luedtke, who was taken off the ice on a stretcher during the first period of the Huskies’ season opener against St. Thomas. Mick Hatten of The Rink Live offered these details.
About 7 minutes into the first period, defenseman Josh Luedtke took a check in the defensive zone and did not get up. Emergency personnel had to come onto the ice and he was taken off on a stretcher and to the hospital and did not return.
The good news is that Luedtke is able to move his arms and legs and Huskies head coach Brett Larson said that the initial reports that the team has received have some positive signs.
We will continue to hope for the best as more is learned on Luedtke’s situation. SCSU scored three goals in the first period and made that stand up for a 3-1 win over the Tommies.
7. In their season opener, Miami got a late goal from Joe Cassetti to earn a 2-2 home tie with Ferris State. The Western Michigan-Alaska Anchorage game was not complete when this edition of 8 Thoughts went to press.
Exhibition games: Omaha 7 Minnesota State 2; North Dakota 5 Manitoba 1 (good on UND for playing this game, as the Fighting Hawks have been dealing with illness and only dressed five defensemen and two goalies as a result); Denver 10 UNLV 0; Colorado College 5 Air Force 1.
8. I know you all are tired of overtime changes, but they made another one. Last year, a three-on-three overtime win counted for only 55 percent of a win in the PairWise. That has been changed, as the men’s side has adopted last year’s women’s standard of a 67/33 percent split for overtime wins.
So overtime wins are 2/3rds of a win, also known as a Meat Loaf Win.
4pm start tomorrow. We hit the air at 3:30pm on Kat Country. Hope you can join.
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