NCAA division one hockey teams are in the middle of an eight day Christmas break, giving several Chilliwack Chief grads a chance to catch their breath.
No one needs a breather more than Mitch Gillam, who’s played every minute of every regular season game for Cornell.
Gillam, the BCHL’s top goalie in the 2012-13 season, has backstopped the Big Red to a 6-1-1 record in conference play.
He sports a sparkling 1.69 goals-against average and .937 save percentage.
Austin Plevy has finally settled into college hockey with the Massachusetts UMass Minutemen.
Plevy, a freshman, has collected six goals and 14 points in 17 games to sit fourth in team scoring.
Luke Esposito, a former Plevy linemate in Chilliwack and a junior forward with Harvard, is also creeping up on the point-per-game mark.
Esposito has three goals and seven points in 10 games with the Crimson to sit fifth in team scoring.
Esposito, is on track to eclipse the career highs in goals (five) and points (17) that he set in 32 games last year.
Another ex-Chief, Phil Zielonka, has seen just one game of action with Harvard.
Malcolm Gould, who played in Chilliwack the first year the Chiefs came back, is now in his senior year at Michigan Tech. Gould has six goals and 13 points in 18 games for the Huskies (9-6-1), the third place team in the WCHA conference.
David Thompson, a former Gould teammate and Chiefs captain, is 14 games into his junior season at Penn State, where he’s scored once. Ben Masella is in his junior season with the St. Lawrence Saints, and has six assists in 15 games.
Spencer Graboski has six assists in 15 games for Sacred Heart University and Alex-Perron Fontaine has two points (one goal) in eight games with the RIT Tigers.
Big blueliner Vincent Desharnais is one of several ex-Chiefs making their transition to the NCAA ranks this season.
The freshman has seen limited action with the defending Frozen Four champion Providence Friars. Desharnais has suited up for six games and has yet to collect a point.
Craig Puffer is at Vermont where he’s still looking for his first NCAA goal.
He has two helpers in 17 games.
Tipper Higgins has one goal in eight games for Army.
Jake Hand has five assists in 15 games for the Lake Superior State Lakers and Luke McColgan has no points in two appearances for the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves.
David Jacobson, who tended goal for the Chiefs during last spring’s playoff run, could argue for more playing time with the independent Arizona State Sun Devils.
Jacobson hasn’t played since October, but in the two games he logged he collected a win to go with a 1.86 GAA and .935 save percentage.
Find NCAA division one stats, standings and schedules online at uscho.com