The Best of What's Around

Well, it's about that time. We're under three weeks now until the puck drops on another season of RPI hockey. College hockey in general unofficially gets underway this coming weekend as Mercyhurst, RIT, and Colgate play exhibitions in women's hockey, and there'll now be either men's or women's college hockey every week until early April (with the exception of the week before the men's Frozen Four, of course).

It's been a mercifully quiet offseason for the first time since WaP began back in 2009. Only a few ECAC underclassmen jumped to the pros, just one team swapped conferences, and in our own backyard, not much to report with the exception of one player leaving school. So we have been pretty quiet since the season ended back in March, for sure, but it's now time to crank things up once again.

With the season approaching, it's always a good idea to take stock of which players to be watching for. Below are the top ten returning players in each category in ECAC play, with RPI's top returning players added on if necessary - they're the ones in bold. Are these the only players to be watching for? Of course not; some returning players will improve and become stars, and I'm sure you'll see some freshmen providing immediate impact. For those that are returning, though, these are the ones proven to be in the upper echelon of the league.

Points
Danny Biega, Harvard – 23
Daniel Carr, Union – 22
Greg Carey, St. Lawrence – 21
Andrew Calof, Princeton – 21
Connor Jones, Quinnipiac – 21
Andrew Miller, Yale – 21
Antoine Laganiere, Yale – 20
Kellen Jones, Quinnipiac – 20
Matthew Peca, Quinnipiac – 20
Kenny Agostino, Yale – 19
(Nick Bailen/Brock Higgs – 13 each)

Goals
Daniel Carr, Union – 12
Greg Carey, St. Lawrence – 11
Brandon McNally, Dartmouth – 10
Greg Miller, Cornell – 10
Andrew Calof, Princeton – 10
Antoine Laganiere, Yale – 10
Kellen Jones, Quinnipiac – 9
Eric Robinson, Dartmouth – 9
Wayne Simpson, Union – 9
Rob Kleebaum, Princeton – 8
Kenny Agostino, Yale – 8
(Marty O’Grady – 5)

Assists
Connor Jones, Quinnipiac – 16
Jeremy Price, Colgate – 16
Matthew Peca, Quinnipiac – 16
Andrew Miller, Yale – 16
Danny Biega, Harvard – 15
Ben Sexton, Clarkson – 14
Kyle Bodie, Union – 14
Kyle Flanagan, St. Lawrence – 13
Joel Lowry, Cornell – 13
Josh Jooris, Union – 12
(Brock Higgs – 12)

Power Play Points
Danny Biega, Harvard – 14
Greg Carey, St. Lawrence – 10
Jeremy Price, Colgate – 10
Matthew Peca, Quinnipiac – 10
Ben Sexton, Clarkson – 9
Kyle Flanagan, St. Lawrence – 9
Marshall Everson, Harvard – 9
Kyle Bodie, Union – 9
Mat Bodie, Union – 9
Patrick McNally, Harvard – 9
Nick Bailen, Rensselaer – 9
Dennis Robertson, Brown – 9

Power Play Goals
Daniel Carr, Union – 6
Marshall Everson, Harvard – 5
Greg Carey, St. Lawrence – 5
Wayne Simpson, Union – 5
Antoine Laganiere, Yale – 5
Alex Fallstrom, Harvard – 4
Nick D’Agostino, Cornell – 4
Loren Barron, Quinnipiac – 4
Kellen Jones, Quinnipiac – 3
Ryan Haggerty, Rensselaer – 3

Short-Handed Points
Matt Hatch, Union – 2
Mark McGowan, Rensselaer – 2
Daniel Carr, Union – 2
Jeremy Price, Colgate – 2
Spiro Goulakos, Colgate – 2

Defenseman Scoring
Danny Biega, Harvard – 23
Jeremy Price, Colgate – 18
Mat Bodie, Union – 16
Michael Sdao, Princeton – 15
Patrick McNally, Harvard – 15
Nick D’Agostino, Cornell – 14
Shayne Gostisbehere, Union – 14
Dennis Robertson, Brown – 14
Spiro Goulakos, Colgate – 14
George Hughes, St. Lawrence – 14
(Nick Bailen, Rensselaer – 14)

Goals Against Average
Troy Grosenick, Union – 1.60
Eric Hartzell, Quinnipiac – 1.99
Andy Iles, Cornell – 1.99
Bryce Merriam, Rensselaer – 2.32
Jeff Malcolm, Yale – 2.63
Matt Weninger, St. Lawrence – 2.73
Eric Mihalik, Colgate – 2.76
Steve Michalek, Harvard – 2.77
Mike Condon, Princeton – 2.99
Sean Bonar, Princeton – 3.08

Save Percentage
Troy Grosenick, Union - .940
Andy Iles, Cornell - .922
Eric Hartzell, Quinnipiac - .921
Mike Condon, Princeton - .920
Jeff Malcolm, Yale – .916
Matt Weninger, St. Lawrence - .911
Bryce Merriam, Rensselaer - .911
Steve Michalek, Harvard - .906
Eric Mihalik, Colgate – .896
Sean Bonar, Princeton - .893

Returning Goals Per Game (difference from last year)
Union – 2.50 (-0.95)
Cornell – 2.36 (-0.64)
Quinnipiac – 2.32 (-0.41)
Princeton – 2.27 (-0.37)
Dartmouth – 2.09 (-0.77)
Harvard – 1.95 (-0.82)
Yale – 1.95 (-1.41)
St. Lawrence – 1.82 (-0.45)
Rensselaer – 1.64 (-0.30)
Brown – 1.45 (-1.00)
Clarkson – 1.41 (-1.18)
Colgate – 1.05 (-2.22)

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And, while we're at it, a look at the top returning players around the nation. ECAC players are in bold, RPI's top returners are included for comparison, and players in italics are those from outside of the league that the Engineers are scheduled to get a look at this season.

Points per game
Mark Zengerle, Wisconsin – 1.35
Kyle Flanagan, St. Lawrence – 1.32
Joey Diamond, Maine – 1.27
Brett Gensler, Bentley – 1.25
Cole Schneider, UConn – 1.18
Rylan Schwartz, Colorado College – 1.14
Erik Haula, Minnesota – 1.14
Matt Nieto, Boston University – 1.14
Connor Jones, Quinnipiac – 1.11
Ben Hanowski, St. Cloud State – 1.10
(Brock Higgs – 0.68)

Goals per game
Joey Diamond, Maine – 0.68
Rylan Schwartz, Colorado College – 0.66
Nick Bjugstad, Minnesota – 0.62
Cole Schneider, UConn – 0.61
Ben Hanowski, St. Cloud State – 0.59
Brett Gensler, Bentley – 0.57
Antoine Laganiere, Yale – 0.54
Andrew Calof, Princeton – 0.53
Wade Megan, Boston University – 0.51
Jordan George, Bemidji State – 0.50
(C.J. Lee – 0.21)

Assists per game
Mark Zengerle, Wisconsin – 1.00
Nate Schmidt, Minnesota – 0.88
Andrew Miller, Yale – 0.85
Kyle Flanagan, St. Lawrence – 0.82
Matthew Peca, Quinnipiac – 0.79
Connor Jones, Quinnipiac – 0.76
Danny Biega, Harvard – 0.74
T.J. Tynan, Notre Dame – 0.72
Matt Nieto, Boston University – 0.70
Nick Sorkin, New Hampshire – 0.70
(Brock Higgs – 0.59)

Power Play Goals
Rylan Schwartz, Colorado College – 11
Joey Diamond, Maine – 11
Mark Anthoine, Maine – 11
Brant Harris, UConn – 10
Kyle Flanagan, St. Lawrence – 9
Antoine Laganiere, Yale – 9
Derek Arnold, UMass-Lowell – 9
Wade Megan, Boston University – 9
Kyle Rau, Minnesota – 9
Wayne Simpson, Union – 9
Daniel Carr, Union – 9
(Nick Bailen – 6)

Points per game (Defensemen)
Danny Biega, Harvard – 1.03
Nate Schmidt, Minnesota – 0.95
Joey LaLeggia, Denver – 0.88
Patrick McNally, Harvard – 0.82
Nick Jensen, St. Cloud State – 0.82
Lee Moffie, Michigan – 0.78
George Hughes, St. Lawrence – 0.77
Andrew Prochno, St. Cloud State – 0.76
Mike Boivin, Colorado College – 0.76
Mat Bodie, Union – 0.74
(Nick Bailen – 0.56)

Goals Against Average
Troy Grosenick, Union – 1.65
Parker Milner, Boston College – 1.66
Jason Torf, Air Force – 1.73
Shane Madolora, RIT – 1.93
Frank Slubowski, Western Michigan – 2.03
Andy Iles, Cornell – 2.12
Doug Carr, UMass-Lowell – 2.13
Raphael Girard, Harvard – 2.14
Juho Olkinuora, Denver – 2.18
Eric Hartzell, Quinnipiac – 2.20
(Bryce Merriam – 2.36)

Save Percentage
Parker Milner, Boston College - .937
Troy Grosenick, Union – .936
Raphael Girard, Harvard - .933
Shane Madolora, RIT - .931
Jason Torf, Air Force - .929
Doug Carr, UMass-Lowell - .928
Jared Coreau, Northern Michigan - .928
Casey DeSmith, New Hampshire - .926
Juho Olkinuora, Denver - .924
Josh Thorimbert, Colorado College - .924
(Bryce Merriam - .908)