Photo Credit: Rob Rasmussen/Quinnipiac Athletics
If you are like me and are planning to attend the NCAA’s D1 Men’s Ice Hockey Playoff Regional Finals game tonight up in Allentown, PA to watch the heavily-favored University of Michigan Wolverines as they take on the vastly underrated Quinnipiac Bobcats, I assure you that you are in for quite the treat. As these two teams are trying to focus on the task currently at hand tonight at the Phantom’s PPL Center, I’m sure their mind can’t help but wonder what it will be like to be victorious and head to the Frozen Four in Boston. There, tonight’s champ will take on the awaiting Hobey Baker Award Finalist (and Flyers’ prospect) Bobby Brink- along with the rest of the University of Denver Pioneers- in the semifinals.
But, like previously stated, even though the Wolverines are the #1 seed and currently have an unbelievable seven players on their roster that were already taken in the first round by an NHL team (Matty Beniers, Seattle; Brendan Brisson, Las Vegas; Luke Hughes, New Jersey); Kent Johnson, Columbus; Mackie Samoskevich, Florida; Owen Power, Buffalo; and John Beecher, Boston) they still better not underestimate the Bobcats.
While Quinnipiac may not have the big names or star power that Michigan does, they do have (listen up, Flyers’ management) a 22 year-old undrafted/unsigned freshman in-net by the name of Yaniv Perets. This year, he has not only been named a Hobey Baker Award Finalist, but also led the entire NCAA this season with a minuscule 1.06 goals-against-average. Perets also managed to finish second in the NCAA in save percentage, stopping an incredible .944% of the shots he faced this season. The guy that beat him out in that statistic was Buffalo Sabers’ prospect Devon Levi of Northeastern University who was also named a Hobey Baker Award Finalist this season. Levi made a name for himself last season when he carried Team Canada on his back to a silver medal at the World Juniors Tournament. Back to Yaniv: He has won a total of .793% of his games played this year largely due to the fact that he finished the season with an unheard of (NCAA leading) 11 shut outs this season.
But as good as Perets has been, he cannot take all the credit here. Some of it must go to (again, listen up Chuck) their Head Coach Rand Pecknold who is serving in his 28th season behind the Bobcats’ bench. With far too many accolades over the years to share in this article, there’s a reason why Pecknold has just shy of 550 wins in his career. That reason is his systems and his choice in players he recruits to play for him. Not having the capital or top-of-the-line resources like Mel Pearson (Head coach of Michigan who can recruit the top “rental” prospects to play for a season or two before they go straight to the NHL), Pecknold instead sets out each recruiting season to fill his roster with some of the most hard working, two-way defensively responsible players that he can find. For example, some of the talent you may know that plays for him are (Montreal’s newly-acquired) forward prospect Ty Smilanic and the Oilers prospect Skylar Brind’Amour who (you guessed it) is a 2.0 version of his father, former Flyer Rod Brind’Amour. Which is why with a roster chock full of these hard-working, defensively-responsible players, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when I tell you that not one Bobcat on Pecknold’s roster this season was a minus player! In fact, Quinnipiac’s roster was a jaw-dropping combined +375 this season.
So, if you are headed to the game tonight- or tuning in on TV from the comfort of your own couch- watch how Quinnipiac’s coach manages to strategically defend against Michigan’s potent offense and how their terrific young goaltender holds up against the Big Blue’s advances. You never know: If the Flyers are wise, they just might have a few scouts (or even their new Special Assistant to the GM, Danny Briere) in attendance for tonight’s game to find and sign a young goaltender like Perets, and/or offer an experienced coach like Pecknold a new job. We can only hope, right?
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