The Week 1 Wraparound
It was an eventful few days in the College Hockey South.
Welcome to the Weekly Wraparound, a series where we recap the week in CHS college hockey. This series will vary wildly in length, depth and tone from article to article and even paragraph to paragraph as I cover the wild and often absurd world of club hockey. If I feel that a team’s accomplishments deserve only a few sentences, they’ll get barely any coverage, and if I feel that a subject is important it might end up dominating the article at 800 words. The point of the Wraparound is to talk about what’s worth talking about and to avoid wasting time on anything else, all for the purpose of serving you, the reader. Let’s get started.
Kennesaw State at Alabama (Alabama W 4-0, Alabama W 8-0)
Bama opens the season with a definitive sweep of the Owls. Kennesaw State is doing everything right off of the ice right now, at least publicly; their social media, fundraising and website have all taken massive strides in the right direction. Unfortunately for them, that doesn’t help much against an experienced team that made the conference tournament semifinals last year
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The Tide’s top returning scorers Matthew Dumond and Max Savaloja pummeled the Owl defense to the tune of four goals and nine points between the two of them. Props to State for keeping things reasonably close in game one of the weekend, but it’s clear that the road to reaching the postseason is going to be difficult at best.
Florida at Embry Riddle (ERAU OTW 4-3, Florida W 4-1)
If you don’t know the name Embry Riddle, get familiar. This small aviation school whose main campus is located in Daytona Beach plays gritty and winning hockey in front of one of the CHS’s rowdiest crowds. The Eagles finished 12th in last year’s final CHF National Rankings, but even being graded as a top 15 team might underrate their potential.
For a perfect example of what this upstart program is capable of, look no further than Friday night’s overtime thriller. Just 14 minutes away from one of the world’s most famed racetracks, the Daytona faithful witnessed a different kind of spectacle as two heavyweight teams traded blows. ERAU fell down 2-0 early and looked down and out, but came out of the locker room firing to make it 3-2 late in the third period.
Florida managed to send it to overtime, where the two teams battled hard. After Embry Riddle’s Derek Coztanzo scored to end it with 1.7 seconds to play, the scene that unfolded can best be described using one word: pandemonium.
To Florida’s credit, the Gators came back the next day and responded with a decisive win, but you can’t blame ERAU too much for having a trademark CHF/ACHA “hangover game” after a win like that. I’m stoked to see what they have in store going forward.
Tennessee at USF (Tennessee W 6-2, USF W 7-2)
Another newcomer to the CHS that impressed me this weekend was USF. The Bulls have a fun on-ice product and play with a lot of pace and physicality (although it can sometimes lead to them conceding abundant odd-man rushes and taking penalties), but what really made me smile was their broadcast and crowd. The live stream was one of the best I’ve ever watched between the ACHA and CHF and the rink was packed out.
It’s great to see that the new additions to the conference are bringing plenty of fans and media coverage with them. Even if USF and Tennessee both miss the postseason (a very real possibility in a conference this crowded), they’re both trending upward.
The Ice Vols are slowly but surely harnessing the massive potential they’ve previously left untapped. Between having a large arena/rink within a short drive of campus, an NHL team in the state, a successful local minor league team and a fanbase who could easily get behind the program (Knoxville native Bill Haslam just purchased majority ownership of The Nashville Predators), the foundation for a thriving on-ice product and dominant recruiting power/brand are there. Add into the mix the cooperation of the university bookstore with merchandising and it’s easy to tell why people around the program are excited.
Yet, as nice as all of that is, Big Orange has underachieved. The Vols have not been a consistent top-of-the-conference team as of late, and their second game against USF hints that while things might be better this year, the changes might not be wholesale. They’re a team to keep track of going forward; even a little bit of momentum could quickly snowball into delivering on the promise that one of the South’s oldest programs contains. Sorry I’m being hard on you Tennessee, but it’s because I know you can be better.
Georgia Tech at MTSU (Georgia Tech W 8-4, 3-3 T)
Impressive start to the year by MTSU despite the winless results. After posting one of the best regular seasons in program history, the Blue Raiders had a disappointing conference tournament, going 0-2 with blowout losses to FAU and Auburn. The question entering 2022 for this team was simple: can they hang with the big boys? The first game of this series obviously had a less than ideal result more in line with the way that previous matchups with playoff teams had gone, but tying Tech in the second go around speaks to the strides made in the offseason by Middle Tennessee.
Georgia Tech is doing well in its warmup games, coming off of a pair of wins over UAH, but the Jackets will have to find another gear when they hit the meat of the schedule. Any team can give you a great test on a given weekend in the CHS, but the second game was one where you could tell that Tech made mistakes that they’ll want to clean up. You can’t play with the discipline of a team that gives up goals with three seconds left against Georgia.
In other notes, Matthew Connelly is still a bad, bad man, putting up five points over the two games. As one of last season’s conference scoring leaders and an all-CHS selection this isn’t a surprise, but even against teams who are more in a “building” phase like UAH putting up the totals he has is impressive. 14 points in four games isn’t too shabby.
What to Watch: Week 2
FSU at Auburn: Thursday, 7 PM CT; Friday, 7 PM CT
Auburn opens the year Thursday night at home against Florida State. The Tigers had a weird and uneven season in 2021-22, starting out hot and rocketing all the way up to a national No. 4 ranking before losing a number of close games against stiff competition. They also met FSU twice, first “losing” in a shootout (the CHF doesn’t recognize anything past overtime as official) and then going on to thrash a shorthanded Seminoles team 22-3 at the Veterans’ Memorial Cup.
Auburn’s leadership is optimistic for this season and the roster appears to be ready to contend with the likes of Georgia, FAU, South Carolina and Alabama for the CHS Championship, but talented teams fail to take the next step all the time. It’s a chance for Florida State to make a statement or for the home team to reaffirm their trajectory as a rising power who won’t make the mistakes of last year.
UCF at ERAU: Friday, 6 PM CT
UCF goes on the road to take on rival ERAU in the hostile confines of the Daytona Ice Arena. The Knights haven’t had their best form lately, finishing towards the bottom of the CHF alongside a struggling Miami Hurricanes program, but with the Battle at the Beach anything can happen. ERAU fans are loud and proud, so you already know the dramatics will be heightened via the environment. This should be physical from the outset and UCF will try to get something going early, so have it on your radar as a “first game to watch” target for Friday.
USF at Florida: Friday, 6 PM CT; Sunday, 1 PM CT
The Gators open their home season slate against a USF team that should be riding high after a 7-2 throttling of Tennessee. Florida played a scrappy and talented Embry Riddle team and broke even after a heartbreaking overtime loss, but now is where they’ll get to show the home fans what they’re made of. This could be telling for USF about where they stand compared to their new conference competition, so it’s a must watch for fans of either school.
Ole Miss at Vanderbilt: Friday, 7 PM CT; Saturday, 7 PM CT
Ole Miss fans were furious with how last season ended. A controversial series against Alabama, tough scheduling and a bizarre playoff rankings system were the demise of the undeniably strong CHS Championship contender. This year, the Rebels are likely going to be back with a vengeance and a massive chip on their shoulders, which will undoubtedly make for excellent hockey.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt is working towards its goal of returning to the CHS playoffs. With a new coach, new players and fresh off of the hockey experience of a lifetime (the Commodores played MTSU in Nissan Stadium on the NHL’s Stadium Series rink), this could be the year that the Black & Gold finally break through. We know it’s possible because their neighbors in Murfreesboro have done it before them.