David H. HendricksonAtop The League Many people, yours truly included, expected Maine to get off to a slow start this year. In addition to graduating stalwart defenseman Mike Lundin, the Black Bears lost six of their eight top-scoring forwards. You don’t lose that much firepower without a few resulting bumps in the road. So when Maine opened … Read more
New Hampshire fell behind Colorado College early in the first period but rallied twice from two-goal deficits for a 5-3 win. Jerry Pollastrone scored both the equalizer and game-winner in the third period. Linemate Bobby Butler added a goal and two assists. It marked the second time in two games that New Hampshire (2-0-0) has … Read more
Congrats To Umile Congratulations to New Hampshire coach Dick Umile on his 400th win. One of the class acts in the sport, Umile has his Wildcats in the thick of things year in and year out. Perhaps making the win even more satisfying was that it came over rival Boston University and in its barn, … Read more
It was the slacker’s ideal day. Start late, quit early and in the middle take an extra-long break. However, hockey players, coaches and fans are no slackers when it comes to their sport so it was with universal disappointment that the Boston College-North Dakota game was halted prior to the third period due to poor … Read more
Friday The 13th… In Everything But Number Friday. October 12, 2007 7:00 p.m. It’s opening night for Hockey East, a show that’s about to begin its 24th season. Phantom of the Opera, Broadway’s longevity king, is a baby by comparison. Chris Terreri, Tim Army and Peter Taglianetti were leading Providence to the inaugural league title … Read more
Massachusetts enjoyed a breakthrough season last year, earning its first NCAA tournament bid and then making the most of it with a first-round win over Clarkson, 1-0. Along the way, the Minutemen secured playoff home ice, swept Maine in the Hockey East quarterfinals and fell to New Hampshire only after taking the game to double-overtime. … Read more
Last year, Massachusetts-Lowell endured a 20-game winless streak that lasted almost three months — from Nov. 10 through Feb. 2 — before putting on a fierce, albeit unsuccessful, 5-2-1 drive for a playoff berth. In the offseason, the UMass Board of Trustees considered terminating the hockey program until a new lease agreement with the city … Read more
Last year was certainly “A Tale of Two Seasons” for the Maine Black Bears. They failed to secure playoff home ice for the first time since 1997-98 and then got swept in the first round by Massachusetts. Initially, many wondered if an NCAA berth would be forthcoming. The PairWise numbers, however, didn’t lie and the … Read more
Had Boston College goaltender Cory Schneider returned for his senior year, the Eagles would have been the near-prohibitive favorite to win Hockey East and potentially the team to beat nationally. Even with Schneider’s departure for the pros, they are the league co-favorites with New Hampshire based on a stellar group of forwards and solid, veteran … Read more
Although Vermont’s move from sixth place (10-11-6) in its first season in Hockey East to a tie for fifth (12-10-5) last year might seem like only the most modest of improvements, there’s reason to view the step forward as more significant than first meets the eye. In the Catamounts’ inaugural campaign, they struggled against “the … Read more
From the disappointment of a lost postseason in his freshman year to being named co-captain as a senior, four years at Wesleyan are a fitting capstone to Ryan’s career. And as Dave Hendrickson relates, all good things must eventually come to an end.
With college beckoning, the Hendricksons work through the options, focusing on academics and hockey. Dave Hendrickson tells how Ryan ended up at Wesleyan.
Goaltending and special teams — the two factors that decide playoff games. It’s a cliché that gets trotted out this time of year and gets overused almost to the point of invisibility. But it didn’t become a cliché by accident. As evidenced by the national championship game between Boston College and Michigan State, goaltending and … Read more
Boston College’s Dan Bertram had had two-goal games before, but not for a while and not on a stage like this. Dave Hendrickson reports.
Diminutive Jeff Lerg helped send his Michigan State Spartans into the national title game, showing Dave Hendrickson and the college hockey world that size doesn’t necessarily matter.
High school beckons for Ryan Hendrickson, but which one? Dave Hendrickson recounts a family’s difficult choices, and then the rewards of making the right one.
He is in what a lot of people called a supporting role. But when the playoffs come, he steps right up. Dave Hendrickson tells us how Joe Rooney is certainly ready for the big time.
New Hampshire was the number-one seed in the Northeast, and No. 1 in the nation part of the season. Now the Wildcats are gone from the NCAA tournament, and Dave Hendrickson tells us this is not the way they wanted to go out.
How much of a good thing is too much? No such worries for Ryan Hendrickson. In Part III of a series, Dave Hendrickson recounts son Ryan’s days in summer hockey.
When your defense is depleted, who do you move to the blue line? Certainly not your top forward. Or do you? That’s exactly what Boston College and Jerry York did with Brian Boyle. Dave Hendrickson tells us that move paid dividends in spades.