Bye week suited Quinnipiac

Rest at this juncture of the season can be vital, especially when a hockey team is fighting a rash of injuries.
Quinnipiac, which earned a first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey playoffs, limped through the month of February. So coach Rand Pecknold gave his team three full days off after a March 1 tie at Clarkson in the regular-season finale.

“We were pretty beat up after that last weekend,” Pecknold said. “We needed a few days off.”
Two glaring holes were left by senior Jordan Samuels-Thomas, one of the nation’s top forwards, and junior Dan Federico, the Bobcats’ top defenseman. Pecknold said several other players have played through injuries.

Samuels-Thomas missed five games in February. He was in the lineup at St. Lawrence on Feb. 28, but scratched the next night at Clarkson. A key player in Quinnipiac’s run to the national title game last winter, Samuels-Thomas has 12 goals and 27 points in 30 games.

Federico, emerging as an NHL prospect, left in the first period against Colgate on Feb. 22 and has yet to return.

Pecknold, citing school policy on Tuesday, would not get into specifics on individual players.

“We got healthier,” Pecknold said. “We’re still not 100 percent. We hope to have everyone back. We’re not sure on that yet.”