For an athlete or team that is on top of their game, a two-week hiatus from competitive play could be as detrimental as it could be beneficial. Two weeks can provide time for injuries to heal or for the team to hone their skills even further, but such a long break from playing other teams could break the focus and throw the team out of sync.
This is the situation the UB Ice Bulls face as this weekend approaches and they take on two league rivals. Their first opponent, Cornell University, arrives at the Amherst Pepsi center on Friday for an 8:15 p.m. game. Following that match up, John Carroll University comes in to play the Ice Bulls again at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Over the last two years Cornell has had an impressive record of 20-8-5, but they find themselves struggling so far this season with a 0-3-0 record in the Eastern Collegiate Hockey League.
As such, Cornell's style is somewhat of a mystery to both the players and UB Head Coach Mike Mannix, but if the scores of Cornell's previous games are anything to go by, Mannix doesn't think the Ice Bulls will have much of a problem.
Cornell has been thoroughly defeated in each of their three losses - 7-3 to Ithaca, 8-1 to Mercyhurst, and 12-0 to Washington & Jefferson.
John Carroll has been a mediocre team with a 22-28-2 record the last two seasons. However, this year they find themselves tied with the Ice Bulls for points and only a spot behind in fifth place in the ECHL standings. They've defeated Rochester with the same 7-1 score as UB has, as well as taking a game from Niagara University, winning 5-3. Their only loss was a 5-1 game that first place Mercyhurst took with authority.
"John Carroll . they're always really good defensively, it depends on how effective we are coming into their zone . if we let them clog us in the neutral zone, we have lots of problems," Mannix said as he voiced his concerns for his team's inability to make the transition from defense to offense. "Historically, one of our troubles is covering our own zone, but we're working on that and we've gotten better. We have to make sure we're efficient coming out of that zone."
Despite the threat John Carroll poses against UB, Mannix knows the toughest part of the season has passed by. Their first four games were out-of-league games against some tough teams such as Eastern Michigan, University of Michigan-Dearborn, and West Virginia University.
"We had a really tough beginning of the season . four of our toughest six opponents were at the beginning. We just need to make sure that we stay on top of our game."
From the way Buffalo has been playing so far in their ECHL games, 7-1 over Rochester and 12-0 over St. Bonaventure, in addition to the close games they played against their stiff competition in the beginning of the season, one could understand Mannix's confidence and expectations - an expectation that won't be satisfied without a trip to the playoffs and a shot at the ECHL title.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
