by JIM DAVIS on JANUARY 11, 2013

The biggest question hovering over the Arkansas Razorbacks’ training camp in September was:

Will anyone be able to fill the skates of Brendan Desjardins and give the Hogs a shot at a second trip to the ACHA DIII National Tournament this season?

Desjardins, the Hogs’ No. 1 netminder for three seasons, was one of the best goalies in Division III. The 2011-12 ACHA All-South Region and All-SECHC choice gave Arkansas a chance to win every game he started last season.

But Desjardins graduated in May. Conventional wisdom said there was no way an Arkansas team with Desjardins guarding its goal could be as competitive this season.

Yet, as the Razorbacks are about to begin the second half of their season at Southern Illinois, they’ve won 17 of 26 games, are ranked sixth in the South Region and lead the SECHC West Division with a 7-1-0-0 record. Six of their losses were to DI and DII teams.

To the delight of head coach Brian Gallini and Razorbacks fans, the goalie question has turned out to be a non-issue. Arkansas’ trio of young netminders — sophomores Spencer Mulgrew and Kevin Scheer and freshman Tommy Courtney (left to right in photo) — has been more than up to the task.

Gallini’s strategy for identifying Desjardins’ successor, which called for letting one of the three emerge as No. 1 from the first dozen games on the Hogs’ tough schedule, has played out perfectly.

Scheer earned the nod for his performances in 4-1 and 4-2 road losses to DII Missouri State in October.  Read the rest of the story here.

Arkansas (17-8-1) finished the first semester of play with a convincing sweep of the Memphis Tigers (4-9-0) by outscoring the Tigers 26-1 over the two weekend games.  In Friday’s contest, leading scorer Martin Sundstedt contributed three goals and two assists.  His teammates Johnny Stromp, Nick Fontana, and Ryan Machos each contributed two goals.  The Hogs finished the night with a dominating 13-0 win, and goaltender Tommy Courtney earned the shutout.

Saturday’s contest brought more of the same as the Razorbacks cruised to a 13-1 win.  Garth Derry scored three goals as did Forest Mudgett who also assisted on two others.  Johnny Stromp and Martin Sundstedt were again significant contributors; Johnny potted two goals and assisted on three more while Martin earned five assists.  Ray Herndon scored the Tigers’ lone goal.  Tommy Courtney was again in the cage for the Hogs and earned the victory.

The Razorbacks are now at the midway point in the season and take a break for approximately three weeks before returning to work on January 4.  After a week of winter training camp, the Hogs will travel to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville to take on the Cougars in a pair of games on January 11 & 12.  The Razorbacks return home on 1/25 & 1/26 to take on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (DII).  The two programs have never played one another.

Notably, the team’s seventeen total wins in the first semester ties a team best.  Arkansas also posted seventeen wins in the first semester of the 2010-11 season and came close to that achievement during the 2009-10 season with sixteen first semester victories.

Finally, the second national ranking was released on Friday, December 7, and the Hogs remain the #6 team in the South Region.  You can review all of the rankings here.

On December 7 and 8, 2012, the Ice Hogs (15-8-1, #6 South) take on the Memphis Tigers (4-7-0) in the two teams’ final games of the first semester.  The Tigers are coming off of a dominating win over Mississippi State last Saturday.  The Razorbacks, on the other hand, took two of three last weekend and put themselves in a good position to secure their fourth consecutive SECHC-West conference title.

On Friday, the Ice Hogs took on the Ole Miss Rebels and turned in an uninspired effort en route to a 4-1 loss.  Despite outshooting the Rebels 40-27, the Hogs could not find the back of the net and, instead, regularly found themselves in penalty trouble.  The Rebels opened the scoring in the first period and never looked back.  They led 1-0 after the first period, 2-0 after the second, and won the final frame 2-1.

The Razorbacks channeled their frustration into amassing twenty more goals on the weekend, fifteen of which came on Saturday as the Hogs exploded for a 15-1 victory over the Auburn Tigers.  The Hogs picked up on Sunday morning where Saturday left off by scoring five goals against a talented Alabama team en route to a 5-1 victory.  The three games completed the Razorbacks’ conference play for the season and the two wins ran the team’s conference record to 7-1-0.

From here, the Hogs will have to wait to see if they earn their fourth consecutive regular season title.  Should Ole Miss win its remaining games and also finish 7-1 in conference play (see their schedule here), then Article II(3) of the SEC bylaws would break the tie. It provides the following tie-breakers:

1. Head to head record
2. Divisional wins
3. Overall wins
4. Division goal differential
5. Coin toss

The teams are tied applying tie-breakers one and two.  But, the Razorbacks’ fifteen total wins already (compared to the Rebels’ nine) suggests that tie-breaker three will bring Arkansas its fourth title.

This weekend marks the first time that Arkansas has tangled with the Memphis Tigers.  The Razorbacks will not return to the Jones Center again until January 25 & 26 when they take on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans (DII).  Game times for both games this Friday and Saturday are 7:30 pm.  Tickets are available for sale at the rink on the day of the game.  General seating tickets are $8, standing room only is $5, and students with an ID are admitted for $3.  More detailed ticket information is available here.

Finally, before you head to the rink on Friday, check the team’s social media pages to see where the Hogs are ranked in the second rankings (released on Friday before 5 pm).

The Ice Hogs (13-7-1, #6 South) head south this weekend for a trio of games that will determine the SECHC-West regular season conference champion.  Beginning on Friday night, November 30, the Hogs renew their rivalry with the Ole Miss Rebels (7-8-0, #12 South).  In their last meeting, the Razorbacks defeated the Rebels 4-1 in Olive Branch by breaking open a 1-1 tie entering in the third period with three unanswered goals.  Since their last meeting, Ole Miss has gone 2-1 with victories over Georgia Tech and Florida State and a lopsided 9-4 loss to Florida Gulf Coast.  The puck drops at 6:00 pm CST in Tupelo, MS, at the BancorpSouth Arena.

Then, on Saturday afternoon, the Hogs take on the Auburn Tigers (3-10-0) at 4:15 pm at the Mid-South Ice House in Olive Branch, MS.  In the two teams’ last meeting, the Razorbacks defeated the Tigers by a score of 10-2.  In five total meetings between the two teams, the Ice Hogs have outscored the Tigers by a cumulative score of 53-3.  The Tigers have not played any additional games since their last meeting with Arkansas on November 11.

The weekend saves the best for last when Arkansas takes on the University of Alabama (6-6-1, #9 South) at 10 am in Olive Branch.  Arkansas took the first game between the two teams on November 10 by a score of 6-1.  That game, played before a large hostile pro-Alabama crowd, stayed tight through two periods.  With the score tied 1-1 entering the third, the Hogs exploded for five unanswered goals.  Since that game, Alabama has gone 2-1-0 and earned an impressive victory over the #4 team in the South Region — the University of Miami — in the process.

This weekend marks the close of the regular season for SECHC conference games.  The Ice Hogs enter the weekend 5-0-0 in the SECHC and, should they sweep the weekend, the Razorbacks would earn their fourth consecutive regular season SECHC-West conference title.  “We’re just excited for the opportunity,” said Assistant Coach Collin Hesse.  “We’ve been working hard all season and it’s weekends like this one where we hope to see it pay off,” he added.

The Razorbacks (13-7-1, #6 South Region) welcomed the DIII Missouri State Bears (11-7-2, #4 Pacific Region) this past weekend on November 17 & 18 for a pair of significant inter-region games.  During the Friday game, the Hogs outshot Missouri State 39-24 and carried the majority of the play.  After a scoreless first period, Easton Oliver (7 G, 9 A) put Arkansas on the board at the 16:56 mark of the second period.  Missouri State, though quickly responded by tying the game six minutes later.  Not to be outdone, the Razorbacks added a pair of goals–from Martin Sundstedt (14 G, 21 A) and Michael Kress (2 G, 4 A)–to close out the period.  Although Missouri State would add one more in the third, they came no closer and Razorbacks took game one by a score of 3-2.

Saturday night’s contest was an equally competitive affair.  Despite again being outshot, this time 53-36, Missouri State potted five total goals including three of the last four to make the game an exciting and close contest.  Arkansas jumped out to a 4-0 lead halfway through the game, receiving goals from Justin McDowell (12 G, 8 A), Easton Oliver (7 G, 9 A), Martin Sundstedt (14 G, 21 A), and Ryan Machos (13 G, 12 A).  In an exciting second half of the second period, Missouri State notched a pair of their own goals before Easton Oliver and Forest Mudgett struck again for the Razorbacks (9 G, 22 A).  A 6-2 lead entering the third period appeared safe until Missouri State scored three consecutive goals to bring themselves within a single strike.  With just under five minutes to play, however, Justin McDowell scored again to secure the victory. 

The Ice Hogs are off for the Thanksgiving holiday and return to action with a trio of away games at the end of the month.  Dates and times for those games are as follows:

11/30 vs Ole Miss in Tupelo, MS @ 6:00 PM
12/1 vs Auburn in Olive Branch, MS @ 4:15 PM
12/2 vs Alabama in Olive Branch, MS @ 10:00 AM

Last weekend, the Hogs took three of four games on a historic four game trip south.  On Friday, November 9, the Razorbacks took on the Ole Miss Rebels.  Although the game was knotted 1-1 after two periods, Arkansas scored three unanswered goals en route to a 4-1 win.  The Razorbacks then took on arch-rival Alabama on November 10 and played a tight game through two periods.  Again, the Hogs found themselves in a 1-1 tie at the end of two but, again, exploded in the third period–this time scoring five straight unanswered goals to defeat the ninth ranked Crimson Tide by a score of 6-1.

Sunday began with an early game against the seventh ranked Florida Gulf Coast Eagles.  The see-saw game had the Hogs leading 1-0 after the first period and 3-2 after the second period.  The Eagles tied it up with 2:49 remaining in the period, which sent the game into a five minute sudden death overtime.  The teams traded chances during the overtime, but a costly penalty on the Razorbacks gave the Eagles a late powerplay and, with only 9.3 seconds remaining in the extra session, the Eagles capitalized by scoring the game winner.

The Hogs rebounded quickly–very quickly–when they took on Auburn University just a few hours later and defeated the Tigers handily by a 10-2 score.  The three wins and overtime loss pushed the Razorbacks’ overall record to 11-7-1.

This weekend, the Hogs return home and welcome rival Missouri State.  The Hogs swept the Division III Ice Bears the last time the two teams hooked up during the 2011-12 season, but this is a new years.  The Bears have posted an impressive 11-5-0 overall record thus far this season and earned an equally impressive #4 national ranking in the Pacific Region.  The Bears’ potent offensive attack is led by Brian Leslie (13 G, 12 A), Ryan Gannon (5 G, 18 A), and Richard Westcott (12 G, 4 A).  Arkansas is 5-3 lifetime against the Division III Bears.

The pair of games against the Bears mark two of the final four home games in the first semester.  The Razorbacks will not return to the Jones Center again until December 7 & 8 when they take on the University of Memphis.  Game times for both games on Friday and Saturday are 7:30 pm.  Tickets are available for sale at the rink on the day of the game.  General seating tickets are $8, standing room only is $5, and students with an ID are admitted for $3.  More detailed ticket information is available here.

The Ice Hogs (8-7-0) head south this weekend for a historic four game weekend.  On Friday November 9, the Razorbacks take on the Ole Miss Rebels (5-6-1) at 9:15 pm CST at the Mid-South Ice House in Olive Branch, MS.  Last season, the Hogs and Rebels split their two-game series; the Razorbacks took game one by a score of 7-0 but then dropped game two 5-3.  Ole Miss enters the game having just dropped a pair of games to upstart Miami (5-3 & 4-1 respectively).  The Rebels and Hogs have one opponent in common:  Grand Valley State.  Against Grand Valley, Arkansas won both contests (3-1 & 6-2) where as Ole Miss defeated Grand Valley by a score of 6-4.  The Rebels are led in scoring by Leo Cuzin (6 G, 10 A), Cameron Cook (5 G, 4 A), and Lee Edelman (6 G, O A).

Then, on Saturday, the Hogs travel to Pelham, Alabama, to take on their biggest rival:  the University of Alabama.  The Frozen Tide enter the game sporting a 4-3-1 overall record.  In their own recent trip to Michigan, the Tide dropped games to Grand Valley State (4-3 SOL) and Michigan State (4-3), but defeated Davenport (3-1).  Last season, the Razorbacks swept the Tide in two exceptionally close games before a packed house at the Jones Center in February.  Those two wins propelled the Ice Hogs to the top of the SECHC-West standings for their third consecutive conference title.  Alabama is led in scoring by Kenny Janssen (8 G, 1 A), Andre Morard (4 G, 5 A), and Matt Mayes (4 G, 5 A).  The puck drops at 7:30 pm CST at the Pelham Civic Center.

Finally, on Sunday, the Ice Hogs tangle with the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles at 10 am at the Pelham Civic Center.  The Eagles were last year’s consensus #1 ranked team in the South Region.  The teams have squared off only once before–in the 10-11 season–when Florida Gulf Coast defeated the Razorbacks by a score of 2-1.  The Eagles are 5-5-0 this season, having earned victors over Miami, South Florida, and Florida Atlantic University–among others.

Almost immediately after the conclusion of the FGCU game, the Hogs will finish the weekend against conference rival Auburn University.  Puck drop is scheduled for 2 pm in Pelham.  Auburn enters the game 2-7-0, having recently dropped games to Clemson by a score of 10-1 and Charlotte by a score of 7-2.  The Razorbacks swept their season series with Auburn last season by scores of 14-0 and 9-0.  The Hogs are 4-0 lifetime against the Tigers and, in the process, have outscored them 44-1.

The Razorbacks enter their four game weekend on a four game win streak having taken six of the last seven games.  You can follow the team on Facebook or Twitter for real time updates throughout the weekend.

On October 26 and 27, the Hogs took on the Texas Tech Red Raiders.  The two teams had not met since the 2010-11 season and, going into the weekend series, the Hogs owned a 2-1 all-time series lead against the Red Raiders.  Friday night’s match-up also saw the program host its third annual “Pink the Rink” event co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas School of Law.  The Law School generously organized the creation of t-shirts and a silent auction, which featured items like a Razorback Tailgate Pack including snacks and fan gear; a Hallow-Scream Movie Night basket, and handmade custom jewelry.  The team was also honored to have the University of Arkansas’s own Provost Sharon Gaber drop the ceremonial opening face-off.

On the ice, the Hogs did not disappoint–posting an 8-1 win that saw the team get scoring contributions from eight different players.  The goal scorers were Johnny Stromp, Erik Robinson, Mason Brower, Martin Sunsdtedt, Forest Mudgett, Trent Ritchie, Justin McDowell and Jansen Polk.  Kevin Scheer made 15 saves en route to his fourth win on the season.  Overall, the Hogs outshot the Red Raiders 48-15.

Saturday’s game brought more of the same.  The Hogs outshot the Red Raiders 69-18 and scored six goals in the process.  Once again, the team saw scoring contributions from six different players.  The Arkansas goal scorers were Taylor Jones, Easton Oliver, Martin Sundstedt, Connor Crumblish, James Nemeth and Johnny Stromp.  The win was the Hogs’ fourth in a row and improved their record to 8-7-0.  Spencer Mulgrew backstopped the team with sixteen saves and earned his third win on the season in the process.

Looking ahead, the team has a bye this coming weekend (11/2 and 11/3) but travels to Olive Branch, MS, and Pelham, AL, for several critical games against Alabama, Ole Miss, and Florida Gulf Coast–last year’s top-ranked South Region team.

The Ice Hogs (6-7-0) return home this coming weekend to take on Texas Tech University (2-4-0) and, in doing so, will co-sponsor the Third Annual Pink the Rink event to raise breast cancer awareness.  The event, co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas School of Law, will feature commemorative t-shirts.  Proceeds from the t-shirt sales will go directly to our local chapter of Susan G. Komen.

Since last playing at home on September 28 & 29, the Ice Hogs have been busy on the road.  They lost two close contests in Springfield, MO, to a talented Missouri State (D2) squad on October 5 & 6, after which the team drove north for a trio of games.  The weekend began on October 13 with a 3-1 victory over northern powerhouse Grand Valley State University.  The weekend’s success continued on October 14 when the Razorbacks defeated GVSU by a score of 6-2.  The two-game sweep of GVSU marked both the Hogs’ first wins in the state of Michigan and the first time a Razorback squad has swept a Northern Region opponent.

The Hogs’ final day in Michigan on October 15 saw the team take on the defending the National Champion Adrian Bulldogs.  The Bulldogs entered the game having not lost a game since October 21, 2011.  Although the Razorbacks played the Bulldogs close in the first period, Adrian ultimately handed the Razorbacks a 7-1 defeat.  As talented as the Adrian team is, the 44 minutes in penalties called on the Razorbacks also contributed to their demise. That was more than half the total assessed on the Hogs in their previous 10 games.

Most recently, the Hogs enter the weekend having just swept conference rival Mississippi State to open SECHC conference play.  The pair of games pushed the Hogs to within one game of .500 and gave their Head Coach, Brian Gallini, his 100th collegiate coaching career win.  Against Texas Tech specifically, the Hogs are 2-1-0.  The teams last hooked up during the the 2010-11 season when the Razorbacks swept a pair of games by a score of 5-3 and 6-2 on October 8 and 9, 2010.

Game times for both games on Friday and Saturday are 7:30 pm.  Tickets are available for sale at the rink on the day of the game.  General seating tickets are $8, standing room only is $5, and students with an ID are admitted for $3.  More detailed ticket information is available here.

After dropping a pair of games to Missouri State (D2) in front of a raucous Springfield, Missouri, crowd, the Ice Hogs (2-6-0) head north to Michigan for the first time in the program’s history.  The team leaves this Friday and will take on Grand Valley State University twice–once on Saturday at 8 pm EST and again on Sunday at noon EST.  As fans will remember, the Hogs split with Grand Valley in dramatic fashion last season.   After dropping game one by a score of 3-1 on Friday night, October 14, 2011, the Razorbacks rebounded in game when Jimmy Nemeth scored in the eighth round of a shootout.  Needless to say, a rivalry between the two programs was born that night.

This year, northern powerhouse Grand Valley is off to a good start.  After posting 4-0 and 9-6 victories over Lawrence Tech University and Lansing Community College, respectively, the Lakers dropped a close pair of games to a talented Robert Morris-Peioria squad this past weekend.  The Lakers are led in scoring by Nic Bectel ( four goals in four games), Dalton Brennon (three goals and an assist in three games), and Chris Norkus (two goals and two assists in four games).  Goaltender Jiri Aberle has backstopped the Lakers for three of their four games and posted an impressive 1.60 GAA in the process.

After the Hogs complete their visit to Grand Rapids, they’ll head south to Adrian College.  Adrian is the defending ACHA DIII 2011-12 National Champion and has gotten off to a fast start this season.  In three games this season, the Bulldogs are a perfect 3-0-0 and have outscored their opponents 12-4 in the process.  The Bulldogs’ balanced attack is led by Colin Gilead (three goals in three games) and Daniel Hudson (one goal and three assists in three games).

From an outsider’s perspective, the Ice Hogs are off to an uncharacteristically slow start.  Prior to dropping to games against Missouri State, the Hogs posted their only two victories against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville by a combined score of 20-0.  In these first eight games, the Razorbacks have received scoring contributions from players of all classes.  Sophomore forward Forest Mudgett has led the way in overall scoring with four goals and seven assists.  Senior forward Martin Sundstedt has chipped in five goals and four assists while senior forward Johnny Stromp has posted two goals and five assists.  Receiving contributions from a variety of sources is nothing new for the Razorbacks.  “Inside our lockerroom, we expect everyone who is in the lineup to make an impact every shift,” said Head Coach Gallini.   He continued:  “With that in mind, we do not think of ourselves as a top line, second line, etc., type of team that’s populated by specific individuals.  Instead, we work hard to think of ourselves as a deep and well-balanced team.”

This weekend’s trip marks the first time the Razorbacks have ever traveled to Michigan.  Follow their path throughout the weekend by staying up to date on the team’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/razorbackhockey) and their Twitter feed (www.twitter.com/razorbackhockey).