Game Notes in PDF Format
Live stats for the game can be found on Merrimackathletics.com
Last Match Up: The Colonials and Warriors have not matched up since December 2006 when Merrimack traveled to the Island Sports Center for a weekend series. In the Friday night game, Robert Morris fought Merrimack to a 2-2 tie. The Saturday game proved to be a thriller as the Colonials defeated the Warriors in a 3-0 shutout victory. Robert Morris took advantage of ten power plays to propel the win. Current Robert Morris assistant coach, Joe Tuset, earned his first career shutout victory in goal as he made 29 saves.
Opening Remarks: The Robert Morris University men’s ice hockey team graduated 14 seniors in the Class of 2008. Since the completion of the 2007-08 season, ten Colonials have signed professional contracts with various AHL, CHL and ECHL franchises.
CHA Preseason Poll: In a poll conducted by College Hockey America, Robert Morris was tabbed to finish 3rd in the conference for the 2008-09 season. Niagara was the pre-season favorite garnering three of four first place votes. Bemidji State was selected to finish second, and Alabama-Huntsville tied with Robert Morris in the third slot. Also, senior forward Chris Margott was named to the Preseason All-CHA team after his performance last season. Margott returns this year after finishing third in the league in scoring with 44 points
Preseason Mention: Senior forward, Chris Margott, was named the “Best Player to Watch” in the CHA by writer Warren Kozireski of Inside College Hockey. Freshman forward, Trevor Lewis, also received mention as “Best Newcomer” this season in the CHA.
Colonial Firsts: In 2007-08, Coach Schooley’s Colonials achieved their first 15 win, over .500 season going 15-15-4. The 07-08 season featured many other firsts for the Colonial Hockey program. Senior forward Ryan Cruthers was named 2008 CHA Player of the Year and was nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, which is awarded annually to college hockey’s most outstanding player. Senior forward, Joel Gasper, was named the CHA Student-Athlete of the Year. Besides the two major CHA Awards, the Colonials placed four members on All League teams (Cruthers 1st team; Chris Margott 2nd team; Nathan Longpre and Denny Urban on the All Rookie Team.
The Award Goes To: During the 2007-08 season, the Colonials received 10 CHA Player of the Week awards and one INCH.com Player of the Week award. Senior goalie Christian Boucher tallied a pair of CHA Defensive Player of the Week awards, while Ryan Cruthers tallied a pair of CHA Offensive Player of the Week honors. Sean Berkstresser, Jason Towsley and Chris Margott all earned one CHA Offensive Player of the Week award. Chris Kaufman earned two defensive player of the week awards, while Denny Urban picked up a CHA Rookie of the Week award on Feb. 11. Towsley picked up the INCH.com Player of the Week award on 10/15/07.
Ranked Teams at the Island: The Colonials played three ranked teams at home in the 2007-08 season, all of which were ranked 19th at the time, Niagara twice and Princeton. RMU is 1-2 this season on home ice against ranked teams and are 3-3 all-time. All three wins have come against Niagara.
100 Point Club: With his 16th assist of the 07-08 season, on the Colonials final goal against Niagara on Saturday, Jan. 12 senior Ryan Cruthers became the first player in Colonial history to tally 100 career points. Over his four-year career, he tallied 34 points at Army during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. Cruthers recorded 37 points in 2006-07, his first as a Colonial and another 49 points in 2007-08 for a total of 86 points as a Colonial. He finished his colligate playing career with 120 points.
Record Chasing: During the 2007-08 campaign, Ryan Cruthers set a new RMU single-season highs in points (49) and goals (39). He also beat Aaron Clarke’s mark of 25 assists in a season with a total of 28.
Senior Chris Margott currently holds the RMU career record for points (88), goals (40) and is tied Doug Conley for the all-time lead in assists with 49 as well as being tied with Clarke and Cruthers for the single-season record of 25 assists in a season.
Margott is also on pace to become the first four-year RMU player to surpass the 100-point mark. He currently has 92 points in under three years of action.
Courtesy: Robert Morris Athletics