Clarkson focused on bye in playoffs
POTSDAM — With exactly one month left in the regular season, the Clarkson University men’s hockey team is focused on earning a bye for the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs.
The top four teams in the 12-team conference get the first week of the playoffs off and host a quarterfinal series the following weekend, with the winner advancing to the semifinals in Atlantic City.
Clarkson (12-11-5 overall, 6-5-3) is in fourth place in the conference standings when going by win percentage. The Golden Knights are two points behind Colgate and Harvard, which are tied for third based on points. But Harvard has played two more games than the Golden Knights.
“You play for this time of year,” Clarkson coach Casey Jones said. “You want to be playing this time of the year with the games being meaningful. There’s an edge to it. Guys are alert. They know there’s a lot riding on weekends. There’s not much separating guys from top to bottom in our league. ”
The ECAC Hockey standings have been especially close this season. Clarkson is six points behind first-place Union, but is also only six points ahead of last-place Rensselaer and St. Lawrence University.
“It’s exciting right now,” Clarkson goalie Paul Karpowich said. “If you don’t pick up any points on the weekend you can move from third or fourth to 10th. It makes you work that much harder so you can get the points on the road.”
This weekend Clarkson will travel to face Brown and Yale, teams it faced at Cheel Arena three weeks ago. Clarkson dominated Brown statistically, but settled for a 2-2 tie. Clarkson then rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat Yale 5-4 in overtime the following day.
“I think we’re in a pretty good position here,” Clarkson forward Julien Cayer said. “The atmosphere in the room is unbelievable. The guys are working hard every day. The coaches have been great. Everybody’s learned a lot this year. Everybody is pushing in the same direction and that’s a major difference this year.”
Clarkson’s senior class has never won a playoff series and played in road series the first weekend twice. Last year the Golden Knights finished in seventh, but were upset by Harvard.
“We were joking (Tuesday), for the seniors if we get the bye, this would be the first time we’ll see the second round,” Karpowich said. “It’s definitely a nice feeling, and we’re working for it. We want that first-round bye.”
YALE FALLOUT
Clarkson’s win over the Bulldogs on Jan. 15 may prove to be a turning point in the season.
Heading into that game the Golden Knights had been in a funk, with an 0-4-1 record in its previous five games.
“I don’t know if it was a turning point, but it was a big boost for us,” Karpowich said. “It showed we can compete with them, even if we are down we can keep working hard and stay in the game and win.”
Clarkson’s game-winning goal in overtime came on a power play after Yale’s bench was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Bulldogs coach Keith Allain was later reprimanded by the league .
“I don’t know if (Yale’s) frustration was with us,” Jones said. “It was just one of those situations, the way the game went. Emotions were running high. Games this time of year mean a lot to teams, so you take it for what it’s worth.”
Said freshman defenseman Kevin Tansey, “That was a good game for us. We built off that.”
RECORD-SETTER
Karpowich broke Dan Murphy’s school record for most saves in a career in the second period of last Saturday’s game against Rensselaer. Karpowich now has 3,396 career saves and Murphy, who graduated in 1998, finished his career with 3,375.
“I was trying to put it out of my mind,” Karpowich said. “I always knew it was there. I knew coming into the year I had a good chance of setting the saves record if I stayed healthy, came in in good shape and was able to keep my starting job. I knew before (the RPI game) it was going to take eight saves to get it. During the game I totally forgot it. When the final buzzer came it finally sunk in that I did it.”
Sportswriter Cap Carey covers Clarkson hockey for the Times. You may reach him at ccarey@wdt.net.
For additional coverage, visit his “Knights Tales” blog online or follow him on Twitter @CapCareyWDT.
