Men's Hockey To Host Pair Of NCHA Opponents this Weekend

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Posted: Thursday, February 1, 2007

EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team will face conference foes St. Norbert College and Lake Forest College (IL) this Friday and Saturday at Hobbs Ice Center as the Blugolds look to pick up a couple of Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) victories.

Eau Claire is 8-10-3 overall but 1-7-2 in the conference. That garners four points and sixth in the NCHA rankings. St. Norbert, ranked fourth in the nation, has a 6-3-1 conference record and a 16-3-2 overall mark. The Green Knights are tied for third in the conference. Lake Forest is last in the NCHA with an 0-8-2 conference record and a 3-16-2 overall record.

The Blugolds average 2.7 goals per game while allowing 2.9. The Blugold power-play conversion percentage is 19.7% while opponents only cash in 16.9% of the time. The team has 28 advantage goals, tying them for second in the conference.

Sean Garrity (Jr.-North St. Paul, MN) is the points leader with 20 off of a team-leading 10 goals and 10 assists. Jesse Vesel (So.-Hibbing, MN) and Greg Petersen (So.-Maple Grove, MN/Totino-Grace) both have 19 points. Vesel leads in assists with 15 and is tied for fourth in the NCHA in assists. Garrity and Petersen lead in power-play scores with five each, which ties them for ninth in the NCHA.

Ryan Mensing (So.-Langley, BC/Walnut Grove SS) has gone 6-10-2 as Eau Claire's main goaltender. He allows an average of 2.84 goals per game while posting a save percentage of .906. His 490 saves are third in the conference.

The Green Knights have put up an average of 4.6 goals per game while keeping opponents to 1.7. St. Norbert converts 21.1% of its power-plays while opponents score on 8.8%. The Green Knights are first in the conference in goals (96), goals per game, goals allowed (35), goals allowed per game, assists (156), points (252), and penalty killing percentage.

A total of five Green Knights have racked up 20 or more points. They include Marc Belanger (27), Jeff Hazelwood (25), Matt Boyd (24), Steven Sleep (23), and Shane Wheeler (21). Belanger and Hazelwood both have 12 goals to lead the team. Boyd and Belanger both have 15 assists to lead in that category. Belanger is tied for third in points for the NCHA while Hazelwood is tied for fifth, Boyd is eighth, and Sleep is tied for ninth. Belanger and Boyd tie for fourth in assists while Belanger and Hazelwood tie for fifth in goals. Belanger's team-leading six power-play goals tie for fourth in the NCHA.

Their only goalie, Kyle Jones, has a .917 save percentage while allowing 1.66 goals per game. The 1.66 goals per game is the best in the conference for goalies with extensive action.

The Foresters have averaged 2.48 goals per game while opponents average 4.29. Lake Forest converts 18% of its power-plays and kills 84.3% of opponent advantages. The team's 780 saves are most in the NCHA. They have the least penalty minutes per game with 16.48.

Tyler Canal leads in points with 22 from six goals and a team-leading 16 assists. Canal's assist total also ties for second in the conference. Brian Lee's 10 overall goals and six advantage scores lead for the Foresters. Lee's six power-play goals also tie for fourth in the NCHA.

Scott Campbell and Brandon Kohuch have split time in net this season. Campbell has a 3.47 goals allowed average and a .916 save percentage. His 393 saves are fifth in the NCHA. Kohuch has a 4.71 goals allowed average and a .886 save percentage.

Both games start at 7 p.m. at Hobbs Ice Center this weekend.