University of St. Thomas Athletics
Ferris State
Game Notes -- Men's Hockey back on home ice vs. hot Ferris team
12/14/2022 1:24:00 PM | Men's Hockey
St. Paul, Minn. - Coming off a bye weekend, St. Thomas Men's Hockey (4-13-1 overall, 3-8-1 CCHA) takes on a surging Ferris State team (7-7-2, 5-4-1 CCHA) for two home conference games this weekend. Puck drops are at 7:07 p.m. and 6:07 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Saint Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights.
Seven weeks ago, these teams split a CCHA series in Big Rapids, Mich. Ferris State won the first game, 3-2, while St. Thomas took the second meeting, 5-2., and the series between the two teams is currently tied 3-3 all time.
Both teams are enjoying a bump this season after some struggles last winter. In fact by at least two statistical metrics, St. Thomas and Ferris are two of D-I hockey's most improved programs.
Ferris State is coming off a split with Northern Michigan, with both games ending 5-2, and two one-goal road wins at Minnesota State the prior weekend. Sophomore goalie Noah Giesbrecht is a major reason for the Bulldogs' success, leading the CCHA in goals-against-average at 1.82 and save percentage at .938%.
This weekend's live video streams can be accessed HERE:
Live stats can be found HERE:
--
Most Improved D-I Men's Hockey Teams -- From 2021-22 to 2022-23
(60 D-I programs)
Based on Winning Percentage
+.289 Penn State (17-20-1 in 2021-22 to 15-5-0 in 2022-23)
+.278 Michigan State (12-23-1 to 12-7-1)
+.278 Niagara (11-22-3 to 9-5-2)
+.240 St. Thomas (3-32-1 to 4-13-1)
+.237 St. Cloud State (18-15-4 to 14-4-0)
+.224 RIT (18-16-4 to 12-4-0)
+.208 Merrimack (19-15-1 to 13-4-0)
+.181 Ferris State (11-24-1 to 7-7-2)
+.180 Colorado College (9-24-3 to 8-9-1)
Based on Fewer Goals Allowed Per Game
Princeton 1.17 less per game (3.94 apg to 2.77 apg)
St. Thomas 1.14 less (4.64 to 3.50)
Merrimack 1.01 less (2.83 to 1.82)
Maine 0.96 less (3.36 to 2.40)
Northern Michigan 0.93 less (3.68 to 2.75)
Miami 0.92 less (4.25 to 3.33)
Ferris State 0.81 less (3.75 to 2.94)
Michigan State 0.76 less (3.31 to 2.55)
Penn State 0.71 less (3.21 to 2.50)
Based on Improved Scoring Margin
+1.84 Michigan State (Minus 1.19 per game to plus-0.65 per game)
+1.83 St. Thomas (Minus 2.94 to minus 1.11)
+1.83 Princeton (Minus 1.68 to plus 0.15)
+1.80 RIT (Minus 0.61 to plus 1.19)
+1.28 Penn State (Minus 0.13 to plus 1.15)
+1.25 Maine (Minus 1.12 to plus 0.13)
+1.23 Merrimack (Plus 0.29 to plus 1.53)
+1.17 Niagara (Minus 1.11 to plus 0.06)
Based on More Goals Scored Per Game
+1.39 RIT (2.42 gpg to 3.81 gpg)
+1.09 Michigan State (2.11 to 3.20)
+0.88 Boston U. (3.06 to 3.94)
+0.86 Quinnipiac (3.31 to 4.17)
+0.76 Minnesota (3.54 to 4.30)
+0.72 Niagara (2.28 to 3.00)
+0.70 St. Thomas (1.69 to 2.39)
+0.66 Princeton (2.26 to 2.92)
Last Time Out
The Toms last played Dec. 2-3 at Bemidji State -- the 10th weekend in a row of competition. They fell 6-4 on Friday, then tied 2-2 on Saturday -- gaining their first point in the standings against a Minnesota foe in the team's brief D-I history. Mack Byers scored two goals in each game, Lucas Wahlin recorded four total assists, and Aaron Trotter saved 63 of the 71 shots he faced.
Close Calls
As part of its D-I learning curve, the Purple have 20 losses by one or two goals so far in the D-I era (nine so far this season). That includes a 4-10 mark in one-goal decisions, and 0-10 slate in games decided by two goals.
Did You Know?
- Eight of the Toms' losses have come vs. top-10 ranked Penn State and St. Cloud State and top-20 ranked Minnesota State and Michigan Tech
- This season, nine Tommie defeats are by one or two goals. The Purple have led or been tied in the third period in seven of their losses.
- Luke Manning has 21 career D-I goals at Air Force and St. Thomas. Manning scored goals in five of his last seven games last season, and has contributed goals in five of his last 12 games in 2022-23.
- Last season (36 games), the Toms were outscored by a near 3-to-1 margin, 167-61. In this season's 18 games the Purple have been outscored by a 63-43 margin.
- Two freshmen, Cooper Gay and Josh Eernisse, have joined a short list of Toms to record a multi-goal game this season, with Gay's coming on Nov. 4 against Minnesota State and Eernisse's occuring on Nov. 25 against Lake Superior State. Also on that list is junior Mack Byers, who has three such instances this season (Oct. 29 against Ferris State; and Dec. 1 and again Dec. 2 against Bemidji State).
- Eernisse and Byers each have eight goals already in 2022-23. That ties the Toms' D-I school record for goals in a season set last year by Manning.
- The Toms had their third sellout crowd of the season Oct. 28 (961 spectators), a program record in the 20-year run at the STA rink. They drew 800-plus fans each night Nov. 18-19 vs. Michigan Tech.
He's the Coach
Rico Blasi is the 25th head coach since 1920 for Tommie Men's Hockey. Two of our coaches rank in the top 50 all-time for wins among all college hockey coaches. Terry Skrypek had a 23-year run with St. Thomas and won 415 games from 1987-2010 to rank 44th on the elite list.
Blasi is close behind at No. 47. Rico coached 20 seasons at Miami (Ohio) and is now in season two with the Tommies. He ranks 17th among all active men's coaches and 12th among active D-I head coaches with his 405 wins. Blasi has 11 returning players and 17 newcomers.
Quoting Coach Rico Blasi (Dec. 12)
"Everyone at this juncture of the season is banged up and hurting somewhere. You just have to fight through it. But I think we'll have a full complement of options this week.
"They're [Ferris State] the hottest team in our conference right now. We have to be ready to go and I think they've made some adjustments on what they do. But they still play hard, they still play in your face, and they still do a really good job of protecting their net-front.
"We've earned points (in the standings) in the last two weekends we've played. We'll continue to focus on trying to be our best on Friday and not worry about outcomes... It's all about getting better each day. I don't think any coach thinks about outcomes as you're preparing for a weekend series."
Hockey Honors
Tommie Men's Hockey continued a weekend of firsts on Nov. 28 when it had two of the four players chosen as CCHA Players of the Week: Goaltender of the Week Aaron Trotter, and Rookie of the Week forward Josh Eernisse. Both are freshmen.
The Toms previously have had only had three CCHA Players of the Week in the two-year D-I era, and none in the same week. Trevor Zins (Defenseman) and Tim Piechowski (Rookie) were selected last season, and Ethan Gauer (defenseman) was honored earlier this season.
Trotter recorded his first college shutout with 23 saves in the Toms' Friday, Nov. 25 4-0 defeat of Lake Superior State. He came back on Saturday, Nov. 26 and stopped 21 of 22 shots in a 2-1 win that gave the Purple their first weekend series sweep of their D-I era. Trotter and his teammates killed off all five Laker power plays on the weekend. The Victoria, B.C. native now has a goals-against average of 3.15 and a .896 save percentage. He's ranked first nationally among D-I freshmen goalies in minutes played and saves, and ranks 6th nationally among goalies in minutes played (827) and seventh nationally in saves (431 in 16 contests).
An Apple Valley, Minn., native, Eernisse scored the first two goals to jump start the Toms in Friday's shutout win. He came back Saturday and scored a short-handed goal in the third period for a 2-0 lead in an eventual 2-1 victory. He has recorded seven goals through 16 games, and ranks eighth among all D-I freshman and first among CCHA rookies in goals scored. Last season it took until Feb. 4 until a Tommie player reached seven goals on the season. Eernisse's seven shots on Friday tied a D-I era record for a Tommie player. His three game-winning goals this season are tied for second most among all D-I players, and the Toms are 4-2-1 this season in games when Eernisse scores a goal. Eernisse scored 10 goals in 85 games over the previous two seasons with Tri City in the USHL.
Tommie D-I Era, Most Games Scoring a Point (Current Players)
17 -- #8-Cameron Recchi and #4-Nolan Sawchuk
15 -- #16-Luke Manning
13 -- #2-Trevor Zins
11-- #3-Lucas Wahlin and #9-Matthew Jennings
10 -- #12-Tim Piechowski
9 -- #6-Josh Eernisse, #11-Ryan O'Neill, and #18-Ethan Gauer
7 -- #22-Mack Byers and 19-Luc Laylin
Breakthrough
The Oct. 8 win over Alaska-Fairbanks was the Toms' first of the D-I era when trailing after two periods, ending an 0-29 string. Twice last season the Toms rallied after a 40:00 deficit to force overtime but were unable to complete the comeback with a win. The Oct. 8 win also was first overtime victory of the Division I era (1-5-2 in the D-I era in 3-on-3 overtime results).
--
Click HERE to access complete weekly notes for Tommie Men's Hockey
--
