The first game of the 2011 PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout will be Plattsburgh State's first meeting with Norwich since the Cadets ended the Cardinals' season in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals last year.
That adds some extra motivation to a tournament that the Cardinals already look forward to each year.
"Oh yeah. I'm sure it goes for everybody: We definitely want to beat these guys real badly," Plattsburgh senior Kyle Kudroch said. "It definitely took something special from us, and to beat them would be awesome.
"Norwich is definitely in the back of our heads, but winning is first priority."
Plattsburgh won the whole thing last year at Stafford Arena. The 14th edition of the annual men's hockey tournament will be at Middlebury's Kenyon Arena. After the Cardinals face the Cadets this afternoon, Middlebury will play Elmira. The winners will clash in Saturday night's championship game, following the third-place contest.
The Soaring Eagles are making their first appearance as the invitational team. The tournament typically includes a western team, but Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery said no one would fly east this year because of the economy. Emery added that a team from the West has already been secured for the 2012 event.
Plattsburgh, ranked sixth in the USCHO.com Division III Men's Poll, is coming off a pair of SUNY Athletic Conference wins last week. The Cardinals (5-1) have yet to face a ranked team, but they'll see two this weekend — all four squads are in the current poll, including No. 1 Norwich.
"It's gonna be a battle," Kudroch said. "These teams are really good. And it's going to show what we're all made of by the end of this weekend."
The Cadets, who scored late in overtime in last year's playoff game after the Cardinals tied it with 24 seconds left in regulation, beat two ECAC East opponents last week to improve to 4-0 this season.
Their roster features two of the top scorers in Division III so far. Sophomore Travis Janke has a 4-9-13 scoring line in just four games, and junior Kyle Thomas has five goals and six assists. Pier-Olivier Cotnoir (eight points) is also in the top 10 in points per game.
The Cadets are averaging 5.75 goals per game.
"Norwich is a very opportunistic team," Emery said. "They've got some real good forwards that can finish and play good offensively. And we know that. We know them pretty well.
"Games like this come down to goaltending and defense, like most games today in hockey. But these games really come down to goaltending and defense."
Norwich boasts the most productive power play in the country. It has netted eight goals with the man advantage and has been scoring on 36.4 percent of its opportunities.
Plattsburgh answers with one of the better penalty kills, ranking fourth in Division III with a 91.3-pecent success rate. But the penalty killing units are little used — Plattsburgh is currently the second-least penalized team in the nation — and Emery would like to keep it that way.
"I like our team's depth this year. I think that's real important," he said. "So we gotta stay out of the box and keep four lines and six defensemen going."
No. 11 Middlebury began its season last weekend with wins over fellow NESCAC foes Colby and Bowdoin. Senior Charlie Strauss accumulated seven points in those games, giving him a Division III leading 3.5 points-per-game average.
No. 10 Elmira (4-2), which plays in the ECAC West, has won its last four after opening with a pair of losses to Oswego. Kevin Willer leads the team with nine points.
