Army's 4-0 start in Atlantic Hockey is real, and Cataldo is why
Two straight shutouts put the Black Knights ninth in the NPI and in the poll before a trip to Air Force.
Army is the best story in college hockey that nobody outside the Hudson Valley is watching yet, and the reason is standing in the crease.
JJ Cataldo stopped all 50 shots RIT threw at him last weekend, two shutouts, and the Black Knights walked out 4-0-0 in Atlantic Hockey for the first time in program history.
Here's the number that should make the rest of the country look up. Army is ninth in the NPI, per the NPI table this week, ahead of Colorado College, Western Michigan and Boston University. The USCHO poll noticed too. Army entered it this week at No. 19.
How they got here
Army lost its opener to Union, then won five straight: a road sweep at Holy Cross, an overtime win over Quinnipiac, and last weekend's sweep of RIT at Tate Rink, 2-0 and 3-0. It's the program's best start since 2006-07, when Army opened 5-0-1.
That season has a twist. Zach McKelvie was a sophomore on that team. Now he's in his first year as the head coach, after 12 seasons on Brian Riley's staff. "We're playing well right now," McKelvie said. That's a coach who spent a long time learning not to jinx anything.
The goalie
Cataldo is a junior and was the league's goaltender of the year last season. This week he picked up the conference's goalie of the week and goalie of the month awards. The back-to-back shutouts were Army's first in a decade.
He doesn't have to steal games, either, because Army's power play is clicking at 35 percent, fifth in the country. When your goalie is that good and your power play is that good, you don't need to win every shift. You need to stay out of the box.
Rivalry file
This weekend Army flies to Colorado to play Air Force at Cadet Ice Arena, starting Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
Air Force is 3-5-0 and coming off a split with Robert Morris. It's the last trip there with Frank Serratore behind the Falcons' bench, because he retires at the end of the season. "Quite frankly, he has dominated our league," McKelvie said.
Nobody at West Point needs to be told what a game against the Air Force Academy means. Add a coach's farewell tour and a ranked Army team, and that barn will be loud.
Kessler's call: Army wins Friday and Air Force gets Saturday. Serratore has made a career out of not letting anybody leave his building with four points, and I'm not betting against that on his last go-round.
