CC moved to 2-0, but Alabama-Huntsville didn’t make it easy. Despite being outshot 41-20, the Chargers were tied with CC through 42 minutes. But two power-play goals within 78 seconds, one by defenseman Gabe Guentzel, the other by Stephen Schultz, put the Tigers on top. Both were assisted by defenseman Brian Connelly. Center Chad Rau scored the empty-netter with 10 seconds to go to give CC a 5-3 win.

Unfortunately for Guentzel, his dad, CC assistant coach Mike Guentzel, was in Denver watching his eldest son, Ryan, play for Notre Dame against Denver in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game. In a plan formed prior to Mike’s hiring at CC in August, both sets of grandparents, Mike and his wife watched as the Irish fell 5-2. In the words of Homer Simpson: D’oh.

Here’s what Gabe had to say after the game:

On his first career goal: It was incredible, you know? It was a bit of a competition between me and my brother. He didn’t score last year in his first year, so I was hoping I’d get one before him. He was playing tonight, so I’ll have to go home and check and see if he got one. (Author’s note: He didn’t.) He’ll probably be proud of me, but at the same time he’ll probably be a little bitter.

On fitting into the defensive corps: It’s been great. We’ve got great leadership: Gannon, Prosser, Connelly, Freddy, you look up to those guys.

On shooting from the point on the power play: You just try to get it past the first guy. You don’t want your shot to be blocked.

On having Dad as a coach at CC: It’s going all right. It’s a little different. We kind of stay away from each other during practices. He’s with the forwards and I’m on D, so it’s going all right. He coached me all the time (growing up) — baseball, hockey, I’m used to it. … I wanted to do my own path. I just want to be a normal college kid, but at the same time, it’s his job — he’s got to do what he’s got to do.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.