NCAA/USHS

No. 6 North Dakota 4 @ No. 1 Miami RedHawks 2

F Jimmy Mullin, MIA: 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIM, 2 SOG
Season totals: 3 GP, 0-2-2, E, 0 PIM
2012-2013 totals: 38 GP, 6-8-14, E, 14 PIM

F Brendan O’Donnell, UND: 1-1-2, +3, 0 PIM, 2 SOG
Season totals: 3 GP, 2-1-3, +4, 0 PIM
2012-2013 totals: 29 GP, 2-8-10, E, 20 PIM

O’Donnell (pictured) started on the first line with Michael Parks and Mark MacMillan, and the line was magic for North Dakota as they upset the No. 1 team in the nation in their own barn, 4-2. Jimmy Mullin was scoreless for Miami.

No. 14 Quinnipiac Bobcats 3 @ No. 9 UMass-Lowell Riverhawks 1

F Matthew Peca, QU: 0-0-0, E, 0 PIM, 2 SOG
Season totals: 3 GP, 0-2-2, E, 2 PIM
2013-2014 totals: 39 GP, 15-15-30, +14, 36 PIM

The Bobcats got a big road win over the country’s previous No. 1 team, UMass-Lowell. According to collegehockeystats.net, Peca was taken off his normal line with the Jones twins, Conner and Kellen.

No. 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers 6 @ Bemidji State Beavers 3

G Adam Wilcox, MIN: Win, 15 saves on 18 shots
Season totals: 3 GP, 3-0-0, 1.67 GAA, .928 sv%, 1 SO
2012-2013 totals: 39 GP, 25-8-5, 1.88 GAA, .921 sv%, 3 SO

Adam Wilcox started his 40th straight game for the Gophers, winning 6-2 against the Beavers.

*USCHO poll used

Ohio State Buckeyes 3 @ No. 2 Miami RedHawks 6

F Jimmy Mullin, MIA: 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIM, 3 SOG
Season totals: 2 GP, 0-2-2, +1, 0 PIM
2012-2013 totals: 38 GP, 6-8-14, E, 14 PIM

Miami should be the new No. 1 team in the country after UMass-Lowell’s loss on Friday and Miami’s sweep of that school that likes to hate Michigan. Alex Szczechura, brother of former Lightning player Paul Szczechura, had two goals for the losing side. 2012 Lightning prospect camper Austin Czarnik had a goal and three assists for Miami. He had two goals on Friday night.

Vermont Catamounts 2 @ No. 7 North Dakota 2

F Brendan O’Donnell, UND: 0-0-0, E, 0 PIM, 1 SOG
Season totals: 2 GP, 1-0-1, +1, 0 PIM
2012-2013 totals: 29 GP, 2-8-10, E, 20 PIM

Vermont overcame a 2-0 deficit to tie North Dakota, 2-2. UND won the shootout, 2-1, though it will go in the books as a tie.

No. 10 Quinnipiac Bobcats 4 @ Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks 1

F Matthew Peca, QU: 0-2-2, +1, 2 PIM, 2 SOG
Season totals: 2 GP, 0-2-2, E, 2 PIM
2013-2014 totals: 39 GP, 15-15-30, +14, 36 PIM

The Bobcats got in the win column after a loss on Friday with a win over the Nanooks on Saturday. Matt Peca (pictured) centered QU’s first line and had two assists. Lightning prospect camper Cody Kunyk was scoreless for UAF, but had two goals on Friday night.

No. 13 New Hampshire Wildcats 2 @ No. 5 Minnesota Golden Gophers 3

G Adam Wilcox, MIN: Win, 21 saves on 23 shots
Season totals: 2 GP, 2-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .958 sv%, 1 SO
2012-2013 totals: 39 GP, 25-8-5, 1.88 GAA, .921 sv%, 3 SO

Minnesota captured the Icebreaker tournament title with a win over New Hampshire, 3-2.

*USCHO poll used

No. 2 Miami RedHawks 6 @ Ohio State Buckeyes 2

F Jimmy Mullin, MIA: 0-2-2, +2, 4 SOG
2012-2013 totals: 38 GP, 6-8-14, E, 14 PIM

Miami opened their season with a commanding win over Ohio State, 6-2. Junior Jimmy Mullin started on the third line and had the primary assists on the goals that gave the RedHawks 3-2 and 4-2 leads.

Vermont Catamounts 3 @ No. 7 North Dakota 5

F Brendan O’Donnell, UND: 1-0-1, +1, 0 PIM, 2 SOG
2012-2013 totals: 29 GP, 2-8-10, E, 20 PIM

Brendan O’Donnell started his junior year with a goal at the end of the second period that enabled UND to enter the second intermission tied with Vermont at 3. O’Donnell was listed on UND’s third line by collegehockeystats.net. Panthers prospect Rocco Grimaldi had a goal and three helpers for North Dakota.

No. 10 Quinnipiac Bobcats 1 @ Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves 2

F Matthew Peca, QU: 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIM, 2 SOG
Season totals: 39 GP, 15-15-30, +14, 36 PIM

Tenth-ranked Quinnipiac dropped their first game of the season, losing 2-1 to the Seawolves in the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage, Alaska. Matt Peca, expected to be one of the top players in college hockey this season, was scoreless in the Bobcats’ debut.

Mercyhurst Lakers 0 @ No. 5 Minnesota Golden Gophers 6

G Adam Wilcox, MIN: Win, 25 saves on 25 shots, shutout, *Third Star*
2012-2013 totals: 39 GP, 25-8-5, 1.88 GAA, .921 sv%, 3 SO

Sophomore star Adam Wilcox earned a 25-save shutout in his season debut as the Gophers crushed the visiting Lakers, 6-0.

*USCHO poll used

Apologies for the delayed observations but personal circumstances have necessitated a combined summary of impressions from several days I attended.

The bulk of the following observations stem from last Wednesday's 3-on-3 tournament action (I was unable to make it Tuesday) although some does come from the on-ice sessions last Sunday and Monday. Here are some thoughts on a limited number of camp participants, from those I went out of my way to watch and those my eyes kept being drawn to:

On the heels of a national holiday, 32 prospects--most drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning, others signed as free agents and a handful of invitees--gathered on the ice Saturday at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon to begin several days of on-ice and off-ice conditioning as well as instruction in organizational values and the culture of professional hockey for both returning and first-time participants.

"Let's call this what it is: summer hockey," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told assembled media. "Part of what [the players] get out of this camp is the chance to get to know myself, Rob Zettler, the staff. Getting to know expectations and being a pro."

"A lot of these kids are coming from juniors programs, college, all these different walks of life, but here at the Tampa Bay Lightning we've got a certain code of conduct," Cooper noted. "This is where it starts."

Having concluded fitness testing and physicals, players hit the ice and rounded out their day with an hour-long practice spent completing basic drills as well as a forty-five minute power skating session.

"The first day is always kind of a feel out day," Cooper said. "Some of these guys, I'm sure, have been skating and some haven't been."

Keeping in mind that the 3-on-3 tournament scheduled to begin Tuesday and wrap-up on Wednesday, the final day of camp, will provide better opportunities to gauge player abilities and hockey sense, here are some brief and selected observations: