Hello everyone! Here are the provisional standings for the week, although they could be changed by Penn State at Princeton or Cornell at Syracuse on Tuesday, and RIT at Mercyhurst on Thursday.

Standings, 2019-01-27

House of Seven Gabels is down to third place! Not only did Moose hold on to first despite having two Princeton kids who’ve spent the last two weeks learning things or something, but goal-by-goaling Grant Salzano has slipped past Seven Gabels into second. Both Moose and Seven Gabels have two Princeton players, while Grant’s 1.21 GigaWatts has one Cornell player, so it’s conceivable that the two games on Tuesday could mix things up even further.

Further down the standings we still have a number of clusters where things could move quite a bit, including an intriguing one from 14th to 16th place where Rooney Tunes is on 414.9, Peaky Grinders is on 414.8, and Frankel My Dear, I Don’t Give A Damn is on 413.35. How will that little cluster shake out?

(I’m not sure why the table shows Moose as up by one place when they’ve been in first place for three weeks now... this may require some more investigation).

What happened this week?

WCHA

Ohio State were obliterated by a beam of pure Minnesota as the Gophers traveled to Columbus and left a deep hole in the geographic center of Ohio with “We won 7-2, 7-1” written on one side and “You’ll never guess who scored! And that’s not us being sarcastic because we’re from Minnesota and we think sarcasm is a bit rude, we actually mean you won’t guess” written on another and “Also, lakes” scrawled across the bottom.

#GWH received at least 1 point from 17 of 19 skaters vs. Ohio State over the weekend, led by 4 #Gophers with 4 points each.

🔥 @KPan19 (4a)
🔥 @emilyoden16 (2g-2a)
🔥 @gracezumwinkle (3g-1a)
🔥 @twilly_7 (4a) pic.twitter.com/eZUPml5lMY

— Minnesota Women’s Hockey (@GopherWHockey) January 28, 2019

It was the first time Ohio State had lost a weekend by eleven goals since... well actually since December 2016, when they lost to Wisconsin 7-0 and 5-0. It was also the first time they’d let in fourteen goals in a weekend since... well actually since October 2015, when they lost to Minnesota 7-2 and 11-2. People forget, I think, just how recent Ohio State being good is.

Quick! Without looking, what’s your over/under on how many total fantasy picks Minnesota’s top two scorers had? The answer is: one. Taylor Williamson (Minnesota, $20.9, 19.1 SP, 4.1 WP, 0 picks) and Emily Oden (Minnesota, $27.8, 19.9 SP, 4.2 WP, 1 pick) have both showed up in these reports before and are also both comfortably outside the top 90 players in fantasy points scored this year. Grace Zumwinkle (Minnesota, $48.7, 36.5 SP, 4 WP, 9 picks) and Nicole Schammel (Minnesota, $44.7, 34.5 SP, 2.4 WP, 1 pick) continued to be reliable. Minnesota’s next games are a series against Minnesota-Duluth and I would say you can expect two assists for the third goalie and a hat trick for the bus driver. In all seriousness, the way Minnesota are spreading their scoring has led me to put them top in my poll votes for the last two weeks. I don’t see how any team in the country can expect to defend against them.

Meanwhile, the games resulted in the usual clutch of Muzzeralisms, including (of a goal that Minnesota scored with a slapshot from the neutral zone) “I don’t know what she was looking at, but she should’ve had it,“ and (of the recent goaltending) “I would like to work more on GoalieWorld this week”. GoalieWorld sounds like fun! (Note: I am not from Minnesota and do not think that sarcasm sounds a bit rude).

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Also, in the second period of the second game Ohio State took a penalty for “HANDLING PUCK WITH HANDS” (I know I sometimes forge gamesheets, but this is 100% real), which sounds like a penalty that was named after what someone who was panicking a bit yelled the first time it happened.

OSU’s goaltending has become a bit of an issue. All three goalies played in the first game, and two in the second. Freshman phenom Andrea Brändli (OSU, $33.7, 27.95 SP, 0.75 WP, 0 picks), who’s been having a rough patch the last couple of weeks, started the first game, let in three goals in eight minutes, and then came back in relief for the last half of the second.

Lynsey Wallace, who did her best to salvage the series against Minnesota Duluth last week, let in four goals in a period and a half on Friday. Amanda Zeglen, who’d looked like the starter at the start of the year, kept a clean sheet for the last period of the game on Friday but then let in five in 9:42 of the second period on Saturday and was pulled for Brändli. Next week Ohio State face St. Cloud, who aren’t exactly terrifying. Maybe this is where they turn things around one more time.

Elsewhere, Wisconsin cruised past St. Cloud, 5-0 and 3-1, with all nine goals scored at even strength, and with Wisconsin outshooting the Huskies 44-14 and 54-13. Sophie Shirley (Wisconsin, $34.8, 25.6 SP, 4 WP, 11 picks) and Mekenzie Steffen (Wisconsin, $35.8, 25.7 SP, 4.1 WP, 2 picks) had good weekends, but Wisconsin still has only Annie Pankowski in the top fifty fantasy scorers of the season. Having said that, though I keep negging Wisconsin’s offense, they’re in the top three in goals for per game and top two for goal difference per game.

ICYMI, @anniepank became only the 7️⃣th Badger to record 💯 career assists! pic.twitter.com/1UhWDGixIh

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) January 27, 2019

Still elsewhere, Bemidji beat Minnesota State 5-2 and then tied 3-3 with Minnesota State winning the WCHA shootout. In both games, Bemidji scored late — two goals after 16:00 in the third period of the first game to put it to bed, one goal on 18:32 of the third period in the second game to tie it. Abigail Levy (Minnesota State, $41.9, 37.5 SP, 1.75 WP, 7 picks) is another freshman phenom goalie who’s having a rougher time lately; her save percentage over her last eleven games is down below .9, though this is distorted by a particularly rough series against Minnesota. Despite the imbalance in goals, the highest scorer for Minnesota State (Brittyn Fleming, $20.9, 15.9 SP, 3. WP, 0 picks) and the highest scorer for Bemidji (Clair DeGeorge , $24.4, 15.8 SP, 3 WP, 1 pick) got the same fantasy score for the weekend.

Crossover

In our matchup of the week, a Minnesota Duluth team flush with confidence after pounding Ohio State met a Quinnipiac team grimly insisting “a win’s a win!” after only getting past Sacred Heart 2-1. The result was a split, 3-1 UMD and 2-1 Quinnipiac. Seeing Quinnipiac’s anemic offense get a win over UMD was unfortunately only the second worst thing that happened to Ohio State this weekend. The goalies were the top fantasy scorers for each school.

Hockey East

Just as the second half of the bass solo in You Can Call Me Al is the first half backwards, so a host of Hockey East teams are having a second half of the season that’s the reverse of the first.

UConn are continuing to struggle, dropping a 5-1 game to Maine and then tying 0-0. (Total Natalie Snodgrass shots: 6; total Natalie Snodgrass goals: 0). Celine Tedenby (Maine, $21, 16.3 SP, 3.6 WP, 0 picks) had a decent weekend.

Celine Tedenby earns @hockey_east Rookie of the Week honors after two goals and two assists on Friday against UConn!

MORE: https://t.co/qIwwm4v0LE #BlackBearNation | #HearMERoar | #WHEA pic.twitter.com/0yT8z9Q4VB

— Maine Hockey (@BlackBearsWIH) January 28, 2019

The free-falling Friars met the soaring Eagles as BC beat Providence 4-2, 4-2 in two games where BC finally looked as good as we were expecting, with special teams their only real weakness. Megan Keller (BC, $63.4, 48 SP, 6.6 WP, 11 picks) set the Hockey East record for single-season scoring for a defender — with five regular season games still to go! Delaney Belinskas (BC, $11.5, 8 SP, 1.8 WP, 0 picks) was held off the scoreboard in the second game but in the first continued her remarkable scoring run, with four points in her first twenty-two games of the season and eight in the next four. Maureen Murphy (Providence, $49.7, 38.4 SP, 2.2 WP, 11 picks) was Providence’s highest scorer.

Merrimack are still 14th in KRACH but don’t feel like a team on the rise. Following their unexpected overtime loss to Vermont last weekend, they had a 6-3 loss and a 3-3 tie to BU. The first game was a total epic: Merrimack led 1-0 after one, BU scored four unanswered to lead 4-1 after two, and then two weeks ago’s hero Mikyla Grant-Mentis (Merrimack, $31.2, 26.7 SP, 4.9 WP, 0 picks) completed her hat trick with one minute left to bring Merrimack back to 4-3. Twenty seconds later, while Merrimack were in the middle of pulling goalie Samantha Ridgewell ($43, 34.85 SP, 2.5 WP, 0 picks), they lost possession and BU put one more in. (That goal counts against Ridgewell, which seems a bit unfair as it’s not clear what she could have done from the far side of the hashmarks). And twenty seconds after that, with Ridgewell properly pulled this time, BU put in the killer blow for 6-3 final. The next day, BU trailed 3-2 late but scored an equalizer with barely a minute to go. If those last minutes in each game had gone differently maybe Merrimack would be ranked this week instead of BU. BU’s highest scorer was Nara “no relation to Maddy” Elia (BU, $21.1, 15.4 SP, 4 WP, 0 picks). Jesse Compher (BU, $54.2, 45.1 SP, 2.7 WP, 11 picks) had what seemed her quietest weekend for a while, but 2.7 points on the weekend still isn’t bad.

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Northeastern shouldn’t have needed OT to beat Vermont 2-1 in their first game, and in their second game, they didn’t, coming away with a 5-1 win and taking the Championship Belt. Chloé Aurard (Northeastern, $29.5, 23.3 SP, 0 WP, 8 picks) is back in the lineup but not back at full speed; Northeastern’s highest scorer was Skylar Fontaine (Northeastern, $35.9, 28.1 SP, 4.5 WP, 1 pick), who hotshot manager Grant Salzano picked immediately before the weekend in a startling show of precognition.

On Saturday and Sunday, UNH beat Holy Cross 4-1 and 3-1. UNH’s top scorer was Boston Pride draft pick Jenna Rheault (UNH, $10, 6.7 SP, 3.9 WP, 0 picks), who had a season-best weekend. UNH goalie Kyra Smith (UNH, $29.7, 28.05 SP, 2.45 WP, 1 pick) keeps on trucking.

ECAC

Cornell and Colgate’s home-and-home produced two 4-2 Cornell wins. Lenka Serdar (Cornell, $28.8, 20.7 SP, 5.2 WP, 0 picks) had an excellent weekend for Cornell, with popular pick Jaime Bourbonnais (Cornell, $38.4, 25.4 SP, 4. WP, 4 picks) also scoring well. Malia Schneider (Colgate, $35.2, 26.4 SP, 2.8 WP, 0 picks) was your best bet for Colgate.

Union and RPI played at Brown and Yale: Union 3-Brown 1, Union 2-Yale 4, RPI 1-Yale 1, RPI 1-Brown 0. The most notable stat was that Brown outshot RPI 41-17 and still lost 1-0. These teams between them have five picks in the whole fantasy league, and three of them are for Union, and two of those are for goalie Coco Francis who’s played less than 40% of Union’s minutes, so I think we can move on, though with a quick nod to Yale goalie Tera Hofmann (Yale, $29.2, 21.55 SP, 4.35 WP, 0 picks) and of course Lovisa Selander (RPI, $48.8, 35.85 SP, 5.1 WP, 1 pick).

Harvard and Dartmouth played at St. Lawrence and Clarkson and put up a good fight for two underdogs on the road. The scores were Clarkson 4-Harvard 2, St. Lawrence 3-Dartmouth 2, Clarkson 4-Dartmouth 2, St.Lawrence 0-Harvard 0. Lindsay Reed (Harvard, $33, 26.25 SP, 0.95 WP, 8 picks) is yet another freshman phenom goalie who’s had a rough patch recently: Clarkson won despite only outshooting Harvard 31-30, and Beth Larcom (Harvard, $18.8, 3.55 SP, 2.15 WP, 1 pick) got the start against St. Lawrence. It was an encouraging weekend for Dartmouth despite the two losses: they were level on shots with Clarkson, 34-34, and in general gave both teams a good game. Loren Gabel (Clarkson, $77.6, 48 SP, 7.2 WP, 18 picks) was involved in seven of the eight Clarkson goals and early-season points leader Ella Shelton (Clarkson, $49.5, 31.6 SP, 6. WP, 5 picks) roared back to life.

CHA

All six CHA teams played two-game in-conference series. Mercyhurst beat Lindenwood 2-0 and 4-2. Robert Morris beat RIT 3-1 and 2-0. And Penn “we mainly lose to bad teams” State lost to Syracuse 2-1 before tying them 1-1. Summer-Rae Dobson (Mercyhurst, $11.8, 7 SP, 3.6 WP, 0 picks) was involved in all four goals in Mercyhurst’s victory on Saturday, which also involved a comeback from 2-0 down eighteen minutes into the second period. Both the Robert Morris victories were sealed with an empty-net goal, meaning that Terra Lanteigne (RIT, $48.9, 39 SP, 3.55 WP, 1 pick) let in only three goals on 80 shots. Emily Curlett (Robert Morris, $36.4, 27.8 SP, 6.4 WP, 0 picks) scored one goal on Friday and both goals on Saturday, which with the defender goal bonus puts her in third place overall for the week.

Weekly awards

Individual Awards

Most points: Loren Gabel (Clarkson, 7.2 points this week (WP), 48 points this season (SP)), from Megan Keller (6.6 WP) and Emily Curlett (6.4 WP)

Most overlooked (highest scoring player that no-one picked): Emily Curlett (Robert Morris, 6.4 WP, 27.8 SP)

Biggest boost (highest scoring player that only one manager picked): Lovisa Selander (RPI, 5.1 WP, 35.85 SP)

Biggest contribution (highest value of points this week * number of teams they’re on): Loren Gabel (Clarkson, 7.2 points * 18 picks = 129.6 total contribution)

Best Freshman: Emily Oden (Minnesota, 4.2 WP, 19.9 SP)

Best Sophomore: Emily Curlett (Robert Morris, 6.4 WP, 27.8 SP)

Best Junior: Ella Shelton (Clarkson, 6. WP, 31.6 SP)

Best Senior: Loren Gabel (Clarkson, 7.2 WP, 48 SP)

Best D: Megan Keller (BC, 6.6 WP, 48 SP)

Best F: Loren Gabel (Clarkson, 7.2 WP, 48 SP)

Best Goalie: Lovisa Selander (RPI, 5.1 WP, 35.85 SP)

Team of the week

Likely to see some more Cornell kids added between now and Thursday:

Roster: Loren Gabel (Clarkson, F, 7.2), Megan Keller (BC, D, 6.6), Emily Curlett (Robert Morris, D, 6.4), Ella Shelton (Clarkson, D, 6.), Lenka Serdar (Cornell, F, 5.2), Lovisa Selander (RPI, G, 5.1), Mikyla Grant-Mentis (Merrimack, F, 4.9), Skylar Fontaine (Northeastern, D, 4.5), Tera Hofmann (Yale, G, 4.35), Emily Oden (Minnesota, F, 4.2), Taylor Williamson (Minnesota, F, 4.1), Brooke Hobson (Northeastern, D, 4.1), Mekenzie Steffen (Wisconsin, D, 4.1), Nara Elia (BU, F, 4), Terra Lanteigne (RIT, G, 3.55)

Score: 74.3

Cost: 589.60 — an expensive one this week.

That’s it!

Trades to tigFantasyHockey@gmail.com by 11:59 pm Eastern on Thursday January 31st, please! Costs are on the Costs tab of the spreadsheet. Note that the prices of players from Cornell, Mercyhurst, Penn State, Princeton, RIT, and Syracuse will change between now and the trade deadline, depending on how their games go, and the trade will be made at the price that applies on Thursday night.

I’m hoping to get a trade tips post together — there are some very interesting shifts in the predicted top scorers based on their last ten games — but #life may happen. Hope you all have a good week!