6 in the Morning returns today from a holiday break refreshed, reinvigorated and re-energized for a great 2009. So let's have at it.

The Mercyhurst College men's and women's hockey teams weren't at home often in the first half of the season, but that will change starting this coming weekend, when the No. 5-ranked women host Vermont Saturday and Sunday. The men's team plays at Army Friday and Saturday, but then returns home for eight straight games at Mercyhurst Ice Center including a Jan. 30-31 series against No. 11 Air Force.

Six names you should know before you go into Mercyhurst's home stretches:

1. Vermont never has beaten the Mercyhurst women in six tries, getting outscored 27-2 and shut out four times. If the Catamounts score this weekend, the goal(s) might come from the stick of Erin Barley-Maloney, a freshman forward from, of all places, North Carolina. She's third on the team with 10 points scored, but has nine of her points in non-conference play and has scored four times on power plays.

2. Andrew Volkening might still be giving the Lakers nightmares. The Air Force goaltender made a career-best 49 saves in a 5-4, double-overtime win against Mercyhurst in the 2008 Atlantic Hockey Association championship game, driving the Falcons into the NCAA Tournament. In this, his junior season, Volkening is the AHA's top goalie with a 15-3-1 record, 1.56 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.

3. Jacques Lamoureux, Volkening's Air Force teammate, has been a terror offensively. He leads players on all AHA-member teams with 14 goals and an average of 1.42 points per game, and he's first in conference play with 11 goals and 21 points.

4. No matter where the teams are in the AHA standings, Sacred Heart always is ready for a go with the Mercyhurst men's team, which is 5-13-2 in its last 20 with the Pioneers. The teams meet Jan. 16-17. Hobey Baker nominee Bear Trapp -- perhaps the coolest name in college sports -- has only nine points this season, but led the Pioneers with 40 points last year and has a tendency to make Mercyhurst suffer, including seven points in five games last year.

5. UConn (Jan. 23-24) likewise has no problem getting prepped to play the Lakers. Watch junior forward Chris Ochoa, who last year had three assists in two games against Mercyhurst.

6. American International (Feb. 6-7) already is 0-2 against Mercyhurst this season, getting outscored 17-4, but sophomore forward Steve McLeod has a goal and two assists in those two games.