Quinnipiac University
Holy Cross
#5/#5 Bobcats Host Holy Cross to Begin Three-Game Week
10/26/2021 8:30:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Bill Riga Returns to People's United Center for Tuesday Tilt
#5/5 Quinnipiac vs. Holy Cross
Tuesday, Oct. 26 | 7 PM | People's United Center
Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats | QU Game Notes | HC Game Notes
Last Time Out
The #5/5 Bobcats split a weekend series with the #6/6 North Dakota Fighting Hawks in Hamden. Graduate student Oliver Chau had two goals and an assist in Friday's win, while Wyatt Bongiovanni, Ethan Leyh, Ethan de Jong, and Zach Metsa all recorded multi-point weekends.
Scouting Holy Cross
The Crusaders defeated this past weekend to help Head Coach Bill Riga to his first career victory. Quinnipiac trasfer Tyler Ghirardosi is currently the leading scorer on Holy Cross' roster after opening his season with five points so far.
All-Time vs. Holy Cross
The Bobcats have owned the all-time series history with Holy Cross, with a 21-3-4 record since November 21, 2000. The last Holy Cross win came on 2/12/2005 and the Crusaders have never beaten Quinnipiac in the state of Connecticut.
Shots, Shots... Not.
QU did not allow a shot on goal until 11:25 into the 2nd period against Vermont. It's the second time ever that the Bobcats have held an opponent without a shot on goal in a period and the longest such stretch to start a game in the program's Division I history.
Quinnipiac has allowed less than 20 shots on goal in each of its first five games this season.
Shhhh...
The Bobcats did not allowed a goal from the 6:15 mark of the 2nd period against Boston College to the 7:44 mark of Friday's North Dakota game. The 161:29 shutout streak is the longest streak in the nation so far this season.
Breaking The Ice
Yaniv Perets joined teammates TJ Friedmann and Skyler Brind'Amour on the Ice Breaker All-Tournament team. Friedmann was named the tournament MVP after scoring twice in the win over Northeastern.
Sky(ler)'s the Limit
Junior forward Skyler Brind'Amour has been named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week for his performance at the Ice Breaker, as announced by the league on Oct. 11. Brind'Amour tallied a goal and an assist to lead the team with two points against BC. Brind'Amour then added another assist in the Bobcats' 2-0 win over No. 18 Northeastern. He also won 8-of-10 faceoffs against the Huskies.
Pecknold's Progress
Quinnipiac men's ice hockey head coach Rand Pecknold earned career victory 550 in last weekend's 3-0 win over No. 18 Northeastern. He is the 11th coach all-time to hit 550 career wins and the second active NCAA Division I coach to do so.
Preseason Accolades
Senior assistant captains Ethan De Jong and Zach Metsa both earned Preseason All-ECAC Hockey honors as voted on by the league's coaches and announced on September 27. The coaches also selected Quinnipiac men's ice hockey as the number one team in the 2021-22 preseason coaches' poll.
Respect Your Elders
The Bobcats added five graduate transfers to the roster for the 2021-22 season, after only having one previous grad transfers in the history of the program. Dylan St. Cyr (Notre Dame), Griffin Mendel (Denver), Oliver Chau (UMass), Brendan Less (Dartmouth), and Tony Stillwell (Brown) will all make their Quinnipiac debuts this season.
Welcome Aboard
Rand Pecknold and his staff have announced the addition of Mike Corbett to the Quinnipiac men's ice hockey program as an assistant coach. Corbett comes to Hamden with an extensive resume in coaching and was most recently the assistant coach at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pa. With the Colonials, he coached three AHA All-League selections, two all-rookie selections, and the league's rookie, defenseman, and co-player of the year. Corbett takes the role of Bill Riga, who left the program in the summer to become the head coach at Holy Cross.
All Smiles
Ty Smilanic (Denver, Colorado) was invited to USA Hockey's World Junior Summer Showcase. A 2020 NHL Draft third round selection of the Florida Panthers, Smilanic was one of 44 players invited by USA Hockey to the World Junior Summer Showcase. Among the 44 invitees, Smilanic is one of 17 that played college hockey in the 2020-21 season.
I'm The Captain Now
Senior Wyatt Bongiovanni was named the 48th captain in program history, succeeding Odeen Tufto '21 who served as the team captain for the Bobcats in 2020-21. Bongiovanni previously served as an assistant captain for the Bobcats as a junior during Tufto's captaincy.
Ethan de Jong and Zach Metsa have been named assistant captains for the 2021-22 season.
Cleary Cup Champions
The Bobcats won the Cleary Cup as ECAC Hockey Regular Season Champions for the fifth time in the past nine seasons after going 10-4-4 in league play. Quinnipiac has clinch the Cleary Cup in two of the last three seasons.
Hobey Baker Finalists
Odeen Tufto and Keith Petruzzelli were named Top Ten Finalists for the 2021 Hobey Baker Award. Tufto and Petruzzelli are the first pair of finalists for the Hobey Baker Award in the same season for the Bobcats, and the fourth and fifth finalists in program history after Reid Cashman '07 in 2004-05, Eric Hartzell '13 in 2012-13 and Chase Priskie '19 in 2018-19.
ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year
Head coach Rand Pecknold was named the ECAC Hockey Tim Taylor Coach of the Year for the third time in his career. It was also the fourth league coach of the year award in his career after taking home the honor in Atlantic Hockey in 2004-05.
First Team All-League
The Bobcats placed three players on the ECAC Hockey First Team for the first time in program history, as Tufto, Petruzzelli and Metsa all earned first team honors. It was each of their first times named to the First Team, and for Tufto it capped off a four-year run as an All-League selection after he was named to the All-Rookie Team in 2017-18 and had back-to-back Second Team selections in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
All-Rookie Team
First year Ty Smilanic was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team after leading the nation with 14 goals. Smilanic was one of the most dominant scorers not just in the league but in the nation. He is Quinnipiac's 10th ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team selection, and fourth in the last four years. The Bobcats have had 21 All-Rookie Team selections since joining the Division I ranks as members of the MAAC Hockey League followed by Atlantic Hockey.
Team Rankings
Quinnipiac was one of the top teams in the nation statistically in 2020-21 as the Bobcats were fifth with 100 goals and sixth in goals allowed at 2.00 per game. Quinnipiac was also the only team in the nation to rank in the top five of both power play and penalty kill, as the Bobcats' power play went 25 percent last season while the penalty kill was 88.8 percent.
Quinnipiac in the NCAA Tournament
Quinnipiac reached the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history, and sixth time in the past eight tournaments. Prior to last year, the last time Quinnipiac was in the NCAA Tournament in 2019, the Bobcats defeated Arizona State before falling to eventual national champion Minnesota Duluth in the Midwest Regional Final. Quinnipiac is 7-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
Senior Class
Quinnipiac's senior class is among the best in the nation as the Class of 2022 leads the nation with 48 goals, 120 points, 4.25 points per game, 19 power-play goals, 25 power-play assists and 44 power-play points. Quinnipiac's Class of 2022 has been among the best of that class in the nation in each of their three seasons of college hockey.
de Jong and the Restless
Ethan de Jong has been one of the Bobcats most dominant players in 2020-21 as e tied for first on the team and eighth in the nation with 14 goals while his 29 points were good for 14th in the nation last year. Both were career-highs.
de Jong picked up points in seven straight games prior to the NCAA Tournament and 11 of his last 12 games.
Metsa World Peace
Zach Metsa was among the nation's top defensemen last seaosn as he led the country with 21 assists and 26 points while his five goals were sixth among defensemen. He recorded points in seven of the last nine games as the blueliner reached career-highs in goals, assists and points.
No Ty-me Like the Present
Sophomore Ty Smilanic had an impressive first season in the blue and gold for the Bobcats as he tied for first on the team and eighth in the nation with 14 goals. He chipped in seven assists for the Bobcats to give him 21 points, one of eight rookies in the nation with at least 21 points.
Burgart King
Desi Burgart has provided some invaluable depth scoring for the Bobcats, tallying a career-high 10 goals and 16 points a year ago. He had more goals and points last season than his first two seasons combined.
Rollin' In My Lombo
Michael Lombardi had a red-hot February for the Bobcats as he recorded points in seven of eight games from Feb. 5-March 5 to boost his scoring to five goals and 10 assists for 15 points. Lombardi's 16 total points are more than he had in his first two seasons in the blue and gold (14).
Guus Van Goal
Guus van Nes had an impressive 2020-21 as he piled up 12 assists to go with two goals for 14 points after just five as a first year in 2019-20. van Nes played in all 29 games this season for the Bobcats.
Just Bein' Brindy
Skyler Brind'Amour had another solid season for the Bobcats as a sophomore as he tied his career-high with nine assists and was two points shy of his 2019-20 with 13 points. Brind'Amour was solid at the faceoff dot, winning 54.1 percent of his draws.
Fillin' It Up
Christophe Fillion joined the Bobcats squad a few games into last season and his made an immediate impact, chipping in six goals and adding four assists for 10 points. Fillion was one of just six rookies in ECAC Hockey to record at least 10 points.
