The Icers sent the Thundering Herd cowering home with their tails between their legs this weekend as the high flying bunch outscored the Penn State football team, when they destroyed Buffalo 30-2 in two games.
Coming into the weekend, Icer Coach Joe Battista said he knew the Thundering Herd was a young, rebuilding team, but was not sure what to expect from them.
“This is their first game,” Battista said, “They are young, but look what we did with a young team when we won the National Championship.”
The Icers, not knowing what to expect, came at the Thundering Herd full force. The Herd was able to resist the momentum, only until about 15 minutes into the first period. From that point on, the Icers blew by the Herd without any resistance. The Icers annihilated Buffalo 20-0 on Friday and creamed them 10-2 Saturday.
“I think they gave up,” said senior forward Chris Cervellero after Friday’s blowout. “We didn’t know what to expect, and we were so fired up to be playing at home.”
Of the 30 goals, 20 of them were scored in the first match when the Icers registered their second shut out of the season. Amongst the 20 goals on Friday, four Icers finished the night with hat tricks: Andy Strasser, Steve Karl, Chris Cervellero and Ross Cowan. Cervellero’s clinched his hat trick with two quick goals in the last ten seconds.
“I felt bad,” Cervellero said. “We weren’t trying to run up the score, but I am not the type of player who lets up in situations. That’s just the way I play hockey.”
Even the Icers’ checking line got into the scoring action. They scored seven goals collectively, and nine assists to boot.
“I mean, when your checking line scores seven goals in one game,” Battista said, “you know you’ve got a lot of firepower, and can give a lot of different offensive looks.”
The obvious lack of competition gave the Icers a chance to find some positive use for the time. The games provided Battista with a chance to look at some of the less experienced players in game situations.
“. . .I don’t think these games hurt us.” Battista said. “We got to look at some guys who hadn’t played yet, and to try some new systems we’ll need later on in the year.”
Battista started Saturday’s game testing new systems and plays to give some different looks to the scouters.
“It’s just like a football team,” Battista said. “If you give them the same look every week they will start to catch on. So we worked on some different lines and systems. I found some I liked, and others that still need some work.”
Despite all of the experimentation, the Icers cranked out 10 more goals to Buffalo’s two.
Battista was excited about what he saw this weekend, but is hesitant about being prematurely excited.
“We don’t know if it is for real yet,” Battista said, “It is easy for us to get excited, we’ve had over 60 shots on goals two games in a row. The season is young, and our toughest competition is yet to come.”