Dan Hickling

Hockey, as we all know, is a game of funny bounces. And some bounces send shocks fanning out across the hockey surface a little further than others. Take for instance a careening puck that, last year, ended St. Lawrence’s NCAA hopes against New Hampshire. Fired by UNH’s Sadie Wright-Ward, it ricocheted off a derriere (some … Read more

It is surely one of the more exotically named little towns in all of Alberta, perhaps second only to the inimitably monikered crossroads of Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump for catching one’s fancy. We refer, of course, to Ma-Me-O Beach (population 95). It is the hometown of Carson Duggan, a key cog in the success enjoyed by St. Lawrence … Read more

It may be a small sign, but a significant one nonetheless, of how far women’s college hockey has come. That two teams who are far behind the sport’s elite, namely Maine and Vermont, can hook up to produce a dandy of a hockey game. Over the ages, we’ve seen some doozies, from the five-overtime Providence … Read more

The overnight temperature in Madison, Wisc. on Thursday was 16 degrees with a wind chill of 5. The outlook for Ft. Myers, Fla., on Friday called for 77 degree temps and breezes. It would seem like a good time for a hockey team, say No. 1 ranked Wisconsin, to take a pre-holiday tournament southward, which … Read more

You may hate it (as some say they do), love it (as many more seem to), or have no opinion (it’s hard to find anyone camped there)… but one thing appears to be certain. The shootout is likely to be with us for a while. Brought in this year by both the WCHA and Hockey … Read more

This space last week detailed the first appearance of Boston University into the USCHO.com Top Ten. It seems that such happenings are going to be more common place. This week finds, for the first time in its history, North Dakota making a Ten trip, albeit in a tie with a rejuvenated Northeastern team. With another … Read more

Puppy Power So let’s see, when is the last time you saw Boston University standing atop the WHEA ladder a month into the season? Or, for that matter, ever saw the Terriers listed anywhere inside the USCHO.com poll? The answer to both questions is … never! Yet here we are with those spunky pups tearing … Read more

No cold stares across the corn flakes. No deadly silences on the commute home. None of the trap doors that married couples who work together can fall through. And they are there (you could have asked Ricky and Lucy). None of that has befallen the husband and wife coaching tandem of Matt and Shannon Desrochers. … Read more

Handicapping the Field Four leagues, four pathways to one goal. Namely the Women’s Frozen Four, set for next April at Boston University. While two of the leagues can reliably count on an at-large bid or two to get teams into the eight-team NCAA tourney field, the surest route remains winning the league title. And while … Read more

For many, the Frozen Four is the women’s college hockey season. It certainly is for the players and coaches who define their lives (the hockey part of it anyway) by how close they come to winning the National Championship, and for the partisans who live and die with the rising and falling (and for one … Read more

So what did you think of the tourney selections? Any of the eight teams selected by the NCAA to vie for the Fro4 title cause any head scratching? Perhaps not. In fact the only the thing surprising about this year’s tourney field is that there are no surprises. Nada. Seven schools return from last season’s … Read more

Do you believe in miracles? … YES!!!!! So, we know that anything can happen in a hockey tournament. We always knew that thanks to a little Olympic moment that occurred in Lake Placid, back in 1980. So as the conference tournament action heats up in earnest, it’s not a bad idea to assess each school’s … Read more

The call came regarding Denver, Thursday, and it the message it contained left Laura Fast feeling “Mile High” in St. Cloud. Fast, a senior captain at SCSU, was one of a select group of exceedingly talented women to get those calls, inviting them to take part in the NCAA’s Frozen Four Skills Challenge, to be … Read more

New school. Old school. In either case it’s still in session in the world-wide classroom encased in ice. As the U.S. hockey community celebrates the 10-year anniversary of striking of the first women’s Olympic gold medal, a select group of 27 of today’s best players have been tabbed to take steps toward repeating the feat … Read more

Okay. By now last week’s bench clearing brawl involving the RIT and Canisius College mens teams have made the YouTube rounds. One clip has had nearly 19,000 viewings to date (and rising daily). But last week’s women’s action produced a few YouTube-worthy clips of its own. Take the goal scored by North Dakota junior Casie … Read more

Puck-et List KENNEBUNK, Maine — If you were to check back through the last few months of ramblings in the space, there’s one word in particular that is used very sparingly. I. It is not the most desirable of words, and although it does have its place in such a setting as this, it’s best … Read more