Skip To Main Content

Scoreboard

Clarkson University Athletics

vsHARVARD17

Men's Hockey February 21, 2017

Knights Close Out Regular Season in New England

PDF of weekly release

Two solid efforts in its final regular-season home games were enough for the Clarkson University Hockey team to clinch a home-ice berth in the upcoming ECAC Hockey playoffs for the fourth straight season. Although the Golden Knights were not able to secure a top-four seed they have accumulated enough conference points to finish anywhere from fifth-to-seventh in the 12-team league. 

Clarkson, guided by sixth-year Head Coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy '00 and Josh Hauge, post a 9-8-3, sixth-place ECAC Hockey mark and are 14-13-5 overall after defeating Colgate, 3-0, and tying Cornell, 3-3ot, at Cheel Arena this past weekend. The Green and Gold close out the schedule on the road at 3rd-ranked Harvard in Cambridge, MA on Friday and at Dartmouth in Hanover, NH on Saturday.

• The Knights and Harvard will be meeting for the 121st time in their all-time series, which first began with a 2-1 Clarkson win in Lake Placid on December 28, 1935. Harvard snapped a two-game losing slide in the series with a 7-3 win in Potsdam on December 3 to gain a one-game edge in the series, 55-54-11.The Crimson have gone 6-4 over the past 10 meetings and 10-5 in the last 15. 
• Clarkson holds a significant 71-28-7 lead over Dartmouth in their series, which began with a 4-1 win in Hanover, NH on February 4, 1929. The series has been fairly even recently with both teams winning five games apiece in the last 10 meetings. Clarkson has won three of the last five games and is on a two-game winning streak in the series after defeating the Big Green 4-2 at Cheel Arena on December 2, its second straight win over Dartmouth in Potsdam. In their last meeting in Hanover, NH, Dartmouth won 5-2 on January 16. 2016.  
• Clarkson has five wins (four on the road) and a three ties against Top 20 teams.
• The Knights are 7-5-2 on opponents' home ice this season.
• Clarkson has held a lead in 11 of the first 12 games on the New Year. The Green and Gold have gone 5-5-2 in 2017.
• The Green and Gold are 10-7-3 when scoring first.
• The Knights are 0-2-5 in overtime games this season.
• The Knights are averaging 3.06 Goals Per Game (tied for 22nd in Division I), the best GPG average at Clarkson since the 2006-07 season (3.48 GPG).
• Junior Sam Vigneault paces the Clarkson offense with a team-high 32 points, including 21 assists, the most points and assists by a Clarkson player over the past three years. Vigneault has tallied eight points (4-4) over the past five games. He recorded his first career three-goal game, a natural hat trick, for all the scoring in Friday's 3-0 win over Colgate. He shares the team lead in plus/minus at +13. Vigneault leads all current Knights in career points with 71 (29-42) through 99 games. 
• Senior Troy Josephs has scored a team-high 13 goals (more than his combined total of 10 through his first three years) and is third in Clarkson scoring with 22 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins draft choice also has a plus/minus rating of +13 and leads the team in game-winners with three. He recorded his fourth career two-goal game with the Knights' last two scores in Saturday's 3-3 tie against Cornell. Josephs has a current four-game point-scoring streak with three goals and two assists during that span.
• Clarkson's defensemen have accounted for three goals and eight assists over the past four games.
• Senior defenseman, captain James de Haas leads the Green and Gold in scoring from the blueline with 17 points on five goals and 12 assists in 30 games.  The Detroit Red Wings draft choice has tallied four points (1-3) over the last five games after missing two  with an injury.  He leads the team in power-play markers with four. 
• Clarkson's Freshman Line of left wing Devin Brosseau (6-7), center Nico Sturm (5-9) and right wing Sheldon Rempal (5-8) have combined for 16 goals and 24 assists through 22 games.
• Beside Vigneault and Josephs, Brosseau was the only other Knight to score a goal in Clarkson's three-point weekend. Brosseau has seven goals and 12 assists to go along with a +7 plus/minus rating in his rookie campaign. 
• Sturm is the Knights' leading scorer among the freshman class with 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists. 
• Rempal follows right behind Sturm and Brosseau on the Clarkson scoring sheet with 18 points (7-11).
• Despite not having any players among the top 24 in the country for points per game by a freshman, Clarkson's Class of 2020 is one of the most productive groups in the country.   The Knights' freshmen lead ECAC Hockey rookies in scoring and are ninth overall in the NCAA, averaging 2.53 points per game.  The Knights' seven rookie skaters, and Kielly (one assist) have accounted for 32% of Clarkson's offense with 81 points on 31 goals and 50 assists. 
• Freshman goaltender Jake Kielly has started 29 of Clarkson's 32 games, including the last 22. He posts a .915 save percentage and a 2.57 goals against average. He made 23 saves in the blanking of Colgate for his third career shutout.
• The Knights have cooled off on the power-play, going 0-of-17 over the past five games.
Clarkson had scored at least one power-play goal in each of the first seven games in 2017. Overall, Clarkson is 34th in the nation on the power play at 17.7% (26-147). 
• The Knights have not won a game this year when trailing after two periods, going 0-7-1.
• Clarkson was ranked 15th among the Top 25 College Hockey Programs of All Time by HERO Sports - http://herosports.com/

Scouting Harvard
Prehaps the hottest team in the nation right now, third-ranked Harvard takes a 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1) into Friday's game against Clarkson.  The Crimson enjoyed a a 3-0 run last week, which started with their first Beanpot title in 24 years. Harvard swept a pair of league games on the road over the weekend, winning 4-2 at Ivy League rival Yale and 6-0 over Brown. The Crimson, who last lost on January 17 (8-4 at Dartmouth), own a 20-5-2 overall record and are challenging for first place in the confernce with a 14-4-2 ECAC Hockey mark. Harvard is in second place, one point by league-leader Union. The Crimson boast the nation's second-ranked offense, averaging 4.11 goals per game. Harvard is undefeated at Bright-Landry Hockey Center with a 9-0-2 home record.

Scouting Dartmouth
The Big Green of Dartmouth are striving to secure a top eight finish in the standings and gain a home-ice berth in the first round of the playoffs. Dartmouth, which hosts St. Lawrence on Friday, is one point ahead of Colgate for the eighth and final home-ice spot with a 7-11-2 ECAC Hockey mark. The Big Green are 10-14-3 overall. Dartmouth split on the road over the weekend, edging Brown 5-4 in Providence before being shut out by Yale 4-0 in New Haven. The Big Green are 6-5-2 on their home ice at Thompson Arena. 

The Series:
The Knights and Harvard will be meeting for the 121st time in their all-time series, which first began with a 2-1 Clarkson win in Lake Placid on December 28, 1935. Harvard snapped a two-game losing slide in the series with a 7-3 win in Potsdam on December 3 to gain a one-game edge in the series, 55-54-11.The Crimson have gone 6-4 over the past 10 meetings and 10-5 in the last 15,  but the Knights swept the 2015-16 season series, winning 5-1 in Cambridge, and 2-1 in Potsdam on February 26 last season. A.J. Fossen has a team-high four goals and six points against the Crimson. Sam Vigneault also has six points on three goals and three assists. Jake Kielly made 29 saves on 34 shots in the first meeting back in December. Steve Perry holds a .895 save percentage and a 1.95 GAA over the Crimson in two games.

Clarkson holds a significant 71-28-7 lead over Dartmouth in their series, which began with a 4-1 win in Hanover, NH on February 4, 1929. The series has been fairly even recently with both teams winning five games apiece in the last 10 meetings. Clarkson has won three of the last five games and is on a two-game winning streak in the series after defeating the Big Green 4-2 at Cheel Arena on December 2, its second straight win over Dartmouth in Potsdam. In their last meeting in Hanover, NH, Dartmouth won 5-2 on January 16. 2016.  Clarkson's last win at Thompson Arena was a 5-2 triumph on January 17, 2015.  Jordan Boucher (3-3) and James de Haas (2-4) shared the team lead in scoring against the Big Green with six points apiece. Jake Kielly made 26 saves on 28 shots in the win over Dartmouth in December. 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Jordan Boucher

#28 Jordan Boucher

F
6' 0"
Senior
James de Haas

#2 James de Haas

D
6' 3"
Senior
A.J. Fossen

#26 A.J. Fossen

F
5' 9"
Senior
Troy Josephs

#16 Troy Josephs

F
6' 0"
Senior
Steve Perry

#1 Steve Perry

G
5' 10"
Senior
Sam Vigneault

#21 Sam Vigneault

F
6' 5"
Junior
Sheldon Rempal

#11 Sheldon Rempal

F
5' 10"
Freshman
Devin Brosseau

#14 Devin Brosseau

F
6' 1"
Freshman
Nico Sturm

#17 Nico Sturm

F
6' 3"
Freshman
Jake Kielly

#29 Jake Kielly

G
6' 2"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jordan Boucher

#28 Jordan Boucher

6' 0"
Senior
F
James de Haas

#2 James de Haas

6' 3"
Senior
D
A.J. Fossen

#26 A.J. Fossen

5' 9"
Senior
F
Troy Josephs

#16 Troy Josephs

6' 0"
Senior
F
Steve Perry

#1 Steve Perry

5' 10"
Senior
G
Sam Vigneault

#21 Sam Vigneault

6' 5"
Junior
F
Sheldon Rempal

#11 Sheldon Rempal

5' 10"
Freshman
F
Devin Brosseau

#14 Devin Brosseau

6' 1"
Freshman
F
Nico Sturm

#17 Nico Sturm

6' 3"
Freshman
F
Jake Kielly

#29 Jake Kielly

6' 2"
Freshman
G