October 15, 2008 @ 4:03 PM ET

Granato Inducted into U.S. Hockey Hall

On Friday night, Cammi Granato was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame at the University of Denver’s Magness Arena in front of more than 400 people. She becomes the first American women’s player to receive such an honor. Earlier this year, Granato was also enshrined into the IIHF Hall of Fame and in 2007, received the NHL’s Lester Patrick Award for her outstanding service to hockey in the USA. Beginning this season, the women’s Hockey East Player of the Year Trophy will receive the Cammi Granato Trophy.

Granato began her career at Providence College where she played from 1989-93. At the conclusion of her first year there, she was named the ECAC Rookie of the Year and followed that up with the ECAC Player of the Year from 1991-93. During her four years at Providence, Granato was an all-star every year. She also captained the Friars to two ECAC championships in 1992 (where she was also the Playoff MVP) and 1993 and tallied a record setting 256 points, which still stands today. Her 84 points in the 1992-93 season, 48 goals in 1991-92, and 43 assists in 1992-93 are all still records. She is the Friars’ all-time leading scorer with 139 goals. Her 117 assists puts her second all-time.

Granato is a ten-time member of the American world championship team winning gold in 2005 and the silver in 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2000, 2001, and 2004. She also captained the team to the first ever gold medal in women’s hockey at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and silver at the 2002 Salt Lake City games. For the team’s efforts in Nagano, Granato was selected to be the flag bearer in the closing ceremonies.

She has also worked as a commentator for the Los Angeles Kings radio broadcasts in 1998-99 and in 2006 became the second broadcaster in history for the NHL as she covered the NHL Game of the Week and the 2006 Torino Olympics. Granato is married to former NHLer Ray Ferraro, and they have one son Riley.

Akstull, Arseneault, and Chartier are ECAC’s Best This Week

St. Lawrence junior forward Tara Akstull, Union forward Emilie Arseneault, and St. Lawrence junior Brittony Chartier are the ECAC’s player, rookie, and goalie for the week ending October 12th. Akstull scored twice and added two assists as St. Lawrence beat Providence and tied Connecticut this past weekend.

She netted the team’s first goal of the season on Friday in a game that also saw Chartier make 27 saves allowing only one power play goal for her first win of the year.

On Saturday, the pair were an important part of the 4-4 tie as Akstull completed St. Lawrence’s comeback with the game tying goal in the third period, and Chartier made 24 saves with four of them coming in the overtime.

Arseneault’s only goal of the weekend on Saturday was her first career goal in her team’s 3-1 loss to Union. She was also an important part of her team’s offensive attack as they tried to make a comeback in the third period.

Delaney, Pappas and Skelly Receive CHA Honors

Robert Morris teammates, freshman forward Brianna Delaney and sophomore defender Whitney Pappas, and Syracuse freshman forward Megan Skelly are the CHA offensive, defensive, and rookie players for the week ending October 12th. On Friday night, Delaney added an assist in the game’s lone goal in the 1-0 win over Syracuse. She followed that up on Saturday with her team’s second goal to snap a 1-1 tie and had five shots on goal in the weekend series.

Pappas played an important part in the Colonial defense as they allowed Syracuse 44 shots over the two games and two power play goals. Pappas assisted on the game winner on Saturday.

Skelly’s goal at the 10:18 mark of the first period Saturday night gave Syracuse a 1-0 lead and assisted on Lisa Mullan’s third period goal 3:49 in to tie the game at 2-2. Skelly leads all CHA rookies with four points with her two goals and two assists giving her a tie for second place in both of those categories.

Hockey East Honors Wakefield, Barley-Maloney, and Schelling

Vermont sophomore forward Jenn Wakefield, Vermont freshman forward Erin Barley-Maloney, and Northeastern rookie netminder Florence Schelling have been awarded with the Hockey East player, rookie, and defensive player of the week awards for the week ending October 12th. In three games this week that saw New Hampshire go 2-0-1, Wakefield netted seven points (3G, 4A), and finished a +5. Her two goals and two assists in the Wildcats’ 5-3 win over Niagara on Saturday night were a career high.

Barley-Maloney scored twice and added two assists as Vermont swept Union. She netted a goal and an assist in each of Friday and Saturday night’s games.

On Friday, Schelling made 40 saves as Northeastern played Bemidji State to a scoreless overtime tie for her first career shutout.

Buganski, Kirkham, and Lamoureux are WCHA’s Best

Minnesota State Mankato junior forward Kala Buganski, North Dakota junior back-stopper Brittany Kirkham, and Minnesota freshman forward Monique Lamoureux are the WCHA’s offensive, defensive, and rookie players for the week ending October 12th.
On Friday, Buganski began her weekend with a goal as the Mavericks beat Maine 5-2, and followed that up on Saturday with the game-winner and a shorthanded tally as the Mavericks beat Maine 4-0. She also finished that game a +2.

She now has a four game goal scoring streak and is one away from beating Michelle Sikich’s team record of five set during the 1998-99 season. She now has 20 goals and 20 assists in 70 career WCHA games.

Kirkham made 32 saves on 32 shots as the Fighting Sioux beat St. Cloud State 2-1 on Friday with 22 of them coming in periods two and three and six of them while her team was shorthanded. Kirkham now has a 1-1-0 record this season with a 2.03 GAA, and 0.922 SAV%.

Lamoureux had a team high 15 shots this weekend and capitalized on two of them. She gave her team a 2-0 lead with 6:03 left in the first on Friday and then on Saturday’s game gave Minnesota an insurance goal at the 2:09 mark of the second in their 2-0 win and the series sweep versus UMD. She also added an assist on her twin sister Jocelyne’s goal on Saturday as well and finished a +2 for the two games.

Wisconsin Tops Both Polls

The University of Wisconsin took over the top spot on this week's USA Today/USA HockeyMagazine and USCHO.com polls this past week. The Badgers received 17 of the 19 first place votes in the first poll and 14 of 15 in the latter.

Due to the their conference sweep of last week’s number one UMD Minnesota moves from seventh to second and received the final two first place votes, while they drop from first to second and received the final first place vote in the USCHO.com poll.

Harvard University is third on both polls, while Minnesota Duluth and New Hampshire are fourth and fifth on the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and switched spots for the USCHO.com poll

Connecticut debuted in tenth on both polls.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll - #3
(first-place votes in parentheses)

1 - University of Wisconsin, 188 (17)
2 - University of Minnesota, 165 (2)
3 - Harvard University, 142
4 - University of Minnesota Duluth, 133
5 - University of New Hampshire, 131
6 - St. Lawrence University, 92
7 - Boston College, 60
8 - Dartmouth College, 54
9 - Mercyhurst College, 52
10 - University of Connecticut, 16

Others receiving votes: Wayne State University, 4; Clarkson University, 3; The Ohio State University, 3; Boston University, 1; Minnesota State University, 1.

USCHO.com DI Poll
October 14, 2008

1 - Wisconsin (14)
2 - Minnesota (1)
3 - Harvard
4 - New Hampshire
5 - Minnesota-Duluth
6 - St. Lawrence
7 - Dartmouth
8 - Boston College
9 - Mercyhurst
10 - Connecticut

Others Receiving Votes: Ohio State 6, Clarkson 5, Providence 3, Boston University 1, Wayne State 1

Games This Week

In CHA action on Friday night, Robert Morris needed only one goal from Sarah O’Malley to shut out Syracuse 1-0.

In the CHA non-conference game, Jess Jones, Cassea Schols, Bailey Bram, and Jesse Scanzano scored as Mercyhurst doubled Boston University 4-2.

In ECAC non-conference play Michelle Binning (2G) and Dominique Thibault (1G, 1A) led Connecticut to a 4-1 win over Colgate; Celeste Doucet’s two goals, Peggy Wakeham’s one goal and three assists, and Teddy Fortin’s goal and two assists saw Vermont demolish Union 7-2; and Carson Duggan netted the game-winner 4:15 into the second as St. Lawrence skated to a 3-1 win over Providence.

Northeastern and Bemidji State skated to a scoreless overtime tie; and Minnesota State beat Maine 5-2 with Christina Lee leading the way with a goal and two assists in Hockey East non-conference action.

Three WCHA games saw Hilary Knight’s game-winner 1:17 into the third, and Carolyn Prevost’s two goals and assist give Wisconsin a 7-4 win over Ohio State; North Dakota nip St. Cloud State 2-1 on Marie-Michelle Poirier’s game-winner; and Gigi Marvin net one goal and assist on Melanie Gagnon’s game-winner with 25 seconds left in the overtime as Minnesota edged Minnesota-Duluth 4-3.

The CHA conference game on Saturday saw Robert Morris sweep their series with Syracuse as Megan Picnic and Kathryn Stack had a goal and an assist each in the 3-1 win.

Non-conference play had Boston University gain a split with Mercyhurst with a 3-2 win with Jonnie Bloemers netting the game-winner with 2:38 left in regulation.

Sam Faber’s goal and assists Jenn Wakefield’s two goals and two assists were a key factor in New Hampshire’s 5-3 win over Niagara. They were named the first and second stars of the game respectively for their efforts as well.

In ECAC non-conference action, a goal and an assist each from Chelsea Rappin and Erin Barley-Maloney gave Vermont a 3-1 win over Union; Katey Beach’s two goals along with a goal and assist each from Laura Veharanta, Mari Pehkonen, and Alyse Ruff saw Providence demolish Colgate 6-2; Dominique Thibault scored twice for Connecticut, and Lisa Batchelor and Karell Émard added a goal and an assist each as the two teams skated to a 4-4 overtime tie; and Danielle Welch’s game-winner 9:10 into the second helped Boston College to a 5-2 win over Rensselaer.

Minnesota State swept Maine with a 4-0 shutout as Maggie Fisher led the way with a goal and two assists; and Northeastern and Bemidji State skated to a 1-1 tie with Alyssa Wohlfeiler leading the scoring for Northeastern with a goal and assist, and Erin Johnson and Jackie Robertson replying for Bemidji.

Margot Miller’s game-winner with 10:18 left saw North Dakota nip St. Cloud State 3-2; Brooke Ammerman provide all the offense Wisconsin needed nine seconds past the midway point of the first as Wisconsin shutout Ohio State 4-0 to complete the two game sweep; and Minnesota sweep UMD with a 2-0 score as twin sisters Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux scored once and added an assist each.

New Hampshire swept Niagara 5-2 in CHA non-conference play on Sunday with New Hampshire’s Courtney Birchard leading her team in scoring with two goals (one of which was the game winner) and one assist.

The Leaders

Robert Morris leads the CHA conference standings with their 2-0-0 record and the overall standings as they are 3-1-0 in that category as well. There is a logjam among the top scorers in the conference as five players share the lead with a goal and assist each — Robert Morris teammates Megan Picinic, Kathryn Stack, and Brianna Delaney, and Syracuse teammates Lisa Mullan and Megan Skelly.

Niagara’s Mary McKinnon leads the conference overall as she has two goals and three assists.

Robert Morris netminder Brianna McLaughlin leads all conference goalies as she has a perfect 2-0-0 record, 1.00 GAA, and 0.955 SAV%.

Wayne State’s Lindsey Perk is tops overall in the CHA with her 1-0-0 record, 0.97 GAA, and 0.964 SAV%.

ECAC conference play has not begun yet, but St.Lawrence leads the overall standings as they have won one game and tied one.

With three goals and one assist, Quinnipiac junior forward Janine Duffy leads all point getters, while Clarkson sophomore netminder Lauren Dahm leads all goalies with an 0-1-1 record, 1.09 GAA, and 0.952 SAV%.

With their one tie New Hampshire leads the Hockey East Conference standings and the overall ones as they are 2-0-1 in that category as well.

Boston College teammates and junior forwards Kelli Stack and Allie Thunstrom lead the conference scoring race in points per game as Stack has two goals, and Thunstrom has two assists.

Their teammate and fellow junior Molly Schaus (0-0-1, 1.85 GAA, 0.939 SAV%) leads all conference goalies, while Northeastern sophomore Leah Sulyma (1-0-1, 0.96 GAA, 0.958 SAV%) is tops overall.

There is a three way tie for the WCHA conference lead with Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin all at 2-0-0 in the conference standings. Minnesota and North Dakota also top the overall standings as both teams have three wins to go along with one loss and no ties.

Wisconsin teammates freshman forward Brooke Ammerman (2-2) and junior forward Kyla Sanders (1-3) both have four points per game to lead the WCHA scoring race with teammate sophomore forward Hilary Knight tops among WCHA scorers overall with her 10 goals and two assists.

Minnesota sophomore Jenny Lura is the top conference netminder as she has won one game, has a perfect GAA of 0.00, and a 1.000 SAV%. With her 2-0-0 record, 0.53 GAA, and 0.974 SAV%, she also tops that category in the WCHA overall standings as well.

The Upcoming Week

Hockey East conference play resumes Wednesday night as Connecticut hosts New Hampshire. All of the games involving CHA, ECAC, and Hockey East teams on Friday night are non-conference as Colgate is at home to Niagara, Wayne State faces Union on the road, Syracuse is at Quinnipiac, Mercyhurst hosts Rensselaer, and Maine takes on Sacred Heart in Orono, ME with all series finishing up on Saturday.

Two exhibition games will feature Cornell hosting Stoney Creek, and the Bluewater Hawks at Princeton.

Four weekend series will kick off WCHA action on Friday and conclude on Saturday as St. Cloud plays host to UMD, Minnesota is at home to Ohio State, North Dakota takes on Minnesota State in Grand Forks, and Wisconsin travels to Bemidji State.

The Wisconsin-Bemidji State match on Saturday night will take place in Evelth, MN and is the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game.

On Saturday, New Hampshire faces St. Lawrence in Durham, and Boston University welcomes Clarkson.

One exhibition game will see the NWHL’s Durham Lightning make their way to Ithaca, NY to face Cornell.

Hockey East conference action will see Providence travel to Boston to face Northeastern, and Vermont takes on Connecticut at home.

New Hampshire travels to Potsdam, NY to face Clarkson; Boston University is at home to St. Lawrence; and Team USA faces St. Cloud State in St. Cloud, MN in Sunday’s non-conference action.

Vermont takes on Providence in Burlington; and Northeaster is at Connecticut in Hockey East action.