Watching the OSU men’s hockey team this past weekend, as they split two games with the St. Lawrence Saints, I was reminded of just how far the team has come from its early season doldrums, and how far the team still has to go to reach the lofty expectations of previous seasons. Having already endured an agonizing eleven-game winless streak, the team seemingly had nowhere to go but up when it recorded a 3-0 victory in the second of two games at Western Michigan on November 24th. When they topped the nationally ranked # 1 Wolverines in Ann Arbor the following weekend, things definitely started looking brighter for the Buckeye icers. Heading into the two-game home series with nonconference foe St. Lawrence, therefore, I was curious to see if the recent upturn in play would continue, especially in light of OSU’s abysmal 0-6 home record, and the double-whammy of coming off finals week with a roster top heavy with freshmen.

Coming out sluggish in the opening stanza Friday night was not the way to start the weekend. The uninspired play quickly put OSU in a 2-0 hole, after back to back rebound goals by the Saints’ Mike McKenzie, on a power-play at 4:40, and an even-strength goal at 8:57 by Jordan Hack. It certainly must have appeared to the smattering of fans in attendance that they were in for the same old, same old at that point. But unlike earlier in the season, when a first period deficit would have doomed the young Buckeyes to most certain defeat, this night would see another important step in the right direction in terms of maturity and resolve for this team. Picking up their pace a bit in the second period, the Buckeyes cut the lead in half when Tommy Goebel converted a slick pass from Tom Fritsche just 4:10 into the period. The goal demonstrated that the team still has some dynamic senior leadership as the duo from Parma, Ohio, with another assist from Solon, Ohio freshman Chris Reed, gave the Buckeyes a much needed jolt of energy. Although they were still outshot 11-5, the Buckeyes were able to keep the Saints at bay thanks to some excellent goaltending from Joseph Palmer who did a much better job of limiting the Saints rebound opportunities throughout the period. Going into the second intermission the Buckeyes had good reason for optimism, as they were only down by a goal, and had yet to play their best hockey.

The Buckeyes came onto the ice for the third period with the mindset of attacking the Saints goal, but despite the added pressure, had nothing to show for it as the clock ticked away the final minutes of the game. Once again, Palmer stifled the Saints attempts to stretch the lead, while giving his team a chance to battle for the tying score. Finally, at 17:34 of the period, freshman Kyle Reed netted his own rebound, off assists from freshman Patrick Schafer and Chris Reed, to knot the score at 2. The partisan fans in the crowd roared their approval as time expired, and well they should have with the Buckeyes heading into the sudden-death overtime period with momentum on their side.

The Buckeyes came out buzzing in overtime. With less than a minute gone by, and the referee signaling a delayed penalty on the Saints, yet another freshman, Peter Boyd, converted a rebound off a shot from the point by lifting the puck into the net for the game winner. Freshman Sergio Somma, and senior Matt McIlvane assisted on the play. For the game, Joseph Palmer had 22 saves, none in overtime.

Once the Buckeyes had recorded a breakthrough home win, in comeback fashion no less, the next hurdle would be to see if they could win back-to-back games on home ice. The second game of the brief home stand would provide the answer on Saturday night.

Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, the magic the team generated Friday evening, quickly dissolved into another home loss 5-4 on Saturday dropping the buckeyes to 1-7 in Value City Arena, and 5-12-1 overall. The Saints benefitted from the Buckeyes’ porous defense in the second and third periods after trailing at the end of first period 2-1. In that period, the Buckeyes took an early lead on a goal by junior Corey Elkins at 1:07, as he redirected a shot by defenseman Corey Toy. Defenseman Jason DeSantis was also credited with an assist on the goal. The Buckeyes were able to maintain the lead until the Saints Aaron Bogosian connected at 12:46 of the period. His shot was not initially ruled a goal, because it entered and exited the net so quickly that play continued for several seconds before a stoppage in play gave the referees an opportunity to review the play. Video replay confirmed that the puck had indeed hit the net and the Saints were credited with equaling the score at 1-1. The Buckeyes again took the lead, as the period drew to a close, when Hilliard, Ohio freshman Patrick Schafer found the back of the net off a rebound of a shot from the point by freshman Shane Sims at 18:20. When the horn sounded to signal the end of the period, the Buckeyes skated to the dressing room with a lead, which in hindsight may have given them a false sense of security based on the low scoring, defensive struggle the night before.

In any event, the Saints’ players came out to start play in the second period with an added jump in their step, and quickly tied the score with a goal by Jordan Hack at 2:30. The score remained tied until the Saints took the lead with another tally at the 15:36 mark by Jared Ross. With no further scoring, the period ended with the Saints holding a 3-2 lead. The Buckeyes managed only 8 shots on goal for a two period total of 15, while the Saints put 11 shots on goal, for a two period total of 21. Clearly the momentum of the game had swung in the Saints favor, so it would be up to the Buckeyes to see if they could mount another third period comeback to give themselves a chance to sweep the series.

The Saints, on the other hand, were just as determined to head home with a split, and they upped their lead to 4-2 on a shorthanded goal by Zack Miskovic at 2:15 of the third period. Senior John Dingle answered for the Buckeyes at 6:10 netting his own rebound off of assists from Peter Boyd and Shane Sims. But a power-play goal by the Saints Casey Parenteau at 10:28 once again pushed the lead to 2 goals, and put the Buckeyes into desperation mode for the remainder of the period. When Tommy Goebel found the back of the net with a laser shot on a Buckeye power-play at the 12:39, with an assist by goalie Joseph Palmer, the Buckeyes were once again within one at 5-4. But despite increased pressure throughout the remainder of the game, and pulling Palmer with 1:18 left in the period, the Buckeyes couldn’t tally the equalizer. The Buckeyes outshot the Saints 17-7 in final stanza, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the team from suffering its seventh defeat in eight home games this season.

Some observations:
Taking in the weekend series with the Saints left me some vivid impressions of this year’s Buckeye hockey team, and some thoughts about where this team might end up. First of all, despite the presence of seniors such as Tom Fritsche and Tommy Goebel the Buckeyes are a very young team with 14 freshmen on the roster, and as many as 10 or 11 of those starting on a given night. While they are prone to make typical freshmen mistakes, there is no mistaking that there are some talented kids in this group who can make spectacular plays at times and should only improve as they learn to play the game at the collegiate level.

Are they worth watching right now? By all means, this team is quite entertaining, and with wins already this season over nationally ranked # 1 Michigan and a win over perennial power Wisconsin earlier in the season, the team has shown flashes of what it is capable of doing. As a former Buckeye hockey player, the most distressing part of watching the current team play was to sit in an almost empty building to take in the fast-paced action of top quality college hockey. There is no question but that Value City Arena is the premier hockey venue in all of college hockey.

For those of us who labored in the “old ice rink” this facility alone is worth the price of admission, and having been in the arena when it has been packed (usually against U of M of course), there is no doubt that the atmosphere is unmatched by any other on-campus facility in North America. During this past weekend, 2,686 fans attended the game against the Saints on Friday night, and 2,479 attended Saturday evening. When you consider that the arena can accommodate 17,500 for a college hockey game, the disparity becomes obvious. Given the fact that on Saturday night the Blue Jackets were in town, and they drew over 15,000 fans, it is understandable that some of the fan base for the Buckeyes might have opted for the NHL that night. But I have been at an OSU hockey game in Value City Arena when the Blue Jackets were playing downtown, and both facilities had good crowds, so it is possible for the central Ohio community to support both teams.

To me, and I admit to being biased, OSU hockey is one of the best entertainment values in Columbus. If you haven’t been to a game yet, give it a try. The games are exciting with the end-to-end action typical of good hockey, you can take your family for a fraction of the cost of going to most other entertainment attractions in town (you can even park for free), and you get to support OSU athletics all at the same time. Just maybe, if attendance picked up, Value City Arena might actually become a tough place for opposing teams to play, and the home team might benefit from the “home ice” advantage once again. A great time to become acquainted with this year’s OSU hockey team would be during the upcoming Ohio Hockey Classic, which is being held in Value City Arena this year rather than Nationwide Arena, on the weekend of December 29-30. The Buckeyes will play Harvard on the 29th, and could play CCHA Conference foe and nationally #2 ranked Miami, on Saturday if both squads win on Friday. I will be there - I hope you will be, too!

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