After waiting around for nearly two weeks without a game, Paul Flanagan is frustrated. This weekend, Syracuse will retake the ice while conference rivals begin preparation for the College Hockey America tournament.

And the Syracuse head coach isn’t happy with the scheduling quirks.

‘It’s just unfortunate with our schedule, and I don’t know what they were thinking,’ Flanagan said. ‘… Mercyhurst and Robert Morris, they don’t play this weekend, so that’s kind of unfortunate. It’s almost like the top two teams are getting a bye.’

As SU waited and prepared the past two weeks, the Orange (9-20-3, 0-7-3 CHA) has also been plagued by injuries and sickness. While the time off has affected Syracuse’s rhythm, it also gave the team extra time for preparation for its final regular-season series against Niagara (9-14-8, 2-5-3 CHA) this weekend in Niagara Falls. SU is still in search of its first conference victory this season.

Had SU taken the ice this past weekend, Flanagan said the team would have had just 13 skaters due to injuries and sickness. Instead, Syracuse has had a chance to get healthy and presumably get back to better strength by Friday.

‘We’ve had a little bit of a sickness going around, but it’s good that we have a week off here to get healthy for the last two weekends,’ SU goaltender Kallie Billadeau said. ‘… We had a couple girls out, but hopefully everyone will be ready to go for Niagara.’

The time off also let the team regroup. The Orange is trying to find a winning formula on the ice.

The Lakers swept SU in its last series, leaving Syracuse without any momentum going into its layoff.

‘The week off was really nice because a lot of people are sick and injured,’ SU forward Holly Carrie-Mattimoe said, ‘so it’s nice to rest up, and, on the other hand, we kind of got a break and rest up and focus on our systems and getting ready for the playoffs.’

As for the skaters actually taking the ice, the major focus of these two weeks of practice has been a weakness all season. The SU offense has struggled to capitalize on breakaways with an advantage.

With fewer players available due to the injuries and sickness, the Orange focused on those situations.

‘When we do two-on-ones and stuff,’ Carrie-Mattimoe said, ‘we don’t really have set people to go with, so we’re kind of mixing people up and seeing if we have chemistry with other people.’

Billadeau has seen this improvement firsthand.

As a goaltender, the sophomore is the one tasked with stopping the two-on-ones in practice. With two uninterrupted weeks of practice, Billadeau has seen all aspects of the two-on-one improve.

‘We’ve been working hard at that all year, the offensive and defensive aspects,’ Billadeau said. ‘I just have to communicate with the ‘D,’ tell them where I think they should go. … It’s gotten a lot better offensively and defensively.’

None of that will matter if Syracuse can’t capitalize in the games. And if there’s any weekend to come through, it’s this one.

Though the Orange would love to get its first conference win of the season, SU is shooting for a weekend sweep.

‘This is by far our most important weekend,’ Billadeau said. ‘It’s do-or-die pretty much. We don’t want to play Mercyhurst in the first round, obviously, so we’ve just got to throw everything on the line, and we’ve got to get two wins. It’s as simple as that.’

dbwilson@syr.edu