David H. HendricksonNumber One In The Country! Maine roared into a number one ranking this week following a road sweep of North Dakota. The wins pushed the Black Bears to a 5-0-0 record that also includes a victory at Minnesota. Arguably, it may be time to call for drug testing of any pollsters who didn’t put Maine … Read more
Fresh off a 7-1 thrashing of number-one Boston College, Notre Dame completed a weekend sweep of Eastern Catholic schools with a 6-1 win over Providence. Freshman Dan Kissel completed a hat trick and goaltender David Brown stopped 22 of 23 shots. Kissel, the lone Fighting Irish freshman forward who had yet to score, got them … Read more
Boston University almost saw its home opening celebration ruined, but came back from a two-goal deficit to defeat Northeastern, 4-3. Pete MacArthur scored twice in the third period to give BU a 3-2 lead and, following a Kyle Kraemer goal to tie it, Kenny Roche got the game-winner with 56 seconds left. MacArthur, Roche, and … Read more
One More Time! Welcome back, my friends, to the column that never ends. A year ago, the season’s first missive celebrated USCHO’s 10-year anniversary with a top 10 list of reasons why the year promised to be a good one. We’ll reprise that theme to open this season, but decline to move to a Top … Read more
Clarkson may have struggled to a woeful 3-15 record on the road last year, but it was hard to see any evidence of a carry-over to this season. The Golden Knights scored two goals in each period to defeat Providence 6-1, in the process running their record to 3-0. “This wasn’t a must-win game; it … Read more
Vermont’s inaugural season in Hockey East proved to be a rollercoaster ride. The Catamounts won their first seven games, giving them major attention in the national polls for quite some time. However, the season ended with only a single win after Feb. 3. Unfortunately for the league rookie, its stellar 8-1 record out of conference … Read more
And so it goes. Another year opens with Boston College as the top preseason pick within Hockey East, fresh off a great run at the national title followed by the departure of considerable talent. Have we heard this song before? The lyrics may change from year to year, but the beat remains the same. The … Read more
Expectations had soared for last year’s veteran-laden Massachusetts-Lowell squad until the late offseason departure to the pros of 26-goal scorer Ben Walter. The River Hawks then got off to a poor start, lost go-to guy Andrew Martin to injury, and saw several key players suffer off-years. Although a closing 4-1 surge vaulted them into seventh … Read more
Last year, Massachusetts certainly enjoyed high notes, particularly wins over Boston University, Boston College, New Hampshire, Colorado College and two over Vermont. In doing so, the Minutemen proved that they could beat just about anybody. There were also two three-game win streaks. UMass finished eighth in the league with a 10-15-2 record, an improvement over … Read more
Maine’s resilience shone through last year both as a program and as a team. After losing All-Everything goaltender Jimmy Howard, the Black Bears were expected by many to fall on comparatively tough times. Howard had stood head and shoulders above all others as the team’s go-to guy, its one indispensable part. Instead, Maine roared out … Read more
This marks USCHO’s tenth year at Frozen Fours, beginning in Milwaukee and coming back full circle. Since yours truly has been part of all of them, here are some favorite memories with a few notable downers mixed in. Bear in mind that it comes from a point of view in which the other five leagues … Read more
“LET’S GO RED! LET’S GO RED!” The crowd, a sea of Wisconsin red with only tiny islands of Boston College gold, was determined to be the potentially decisive seventh man. “LET’S GO BADGERS!” The Wisconsin band blared. The students jumped up and down in unison. The electric atmosphere pulsed with excitement and throbbing decibel levels. … Read more
Going into its NCAA semifinal contest against Wisconsin, Maine’s last worry was special teams. Many factors may have conspired to keep Black Bears coach Tim Whitehead awake at night, but neither the power play nor the penalty kill was among them. The penalty kill ranked first in the nation with an 89.1 percent success rate; … Read more
All year long, the refrain about Boston College has been its ability to survive its four freshman defensemen. Conventional hockey wisdom says that blueliners have the toughest time making the transition to the next level; an abundance of rookies at the position is a recipe for disaster. For Boston College, its youth on the blue … Read more
On the eve of their NCAA semifinal contest with North Dakota, the Boston College Eagles are looking to the time-honored trio of goaltending, special teams and intangibles to get them past North Dakota and into the championship game. Key Factor No. 1: Goaltending “You’re never here unless you have a hot goaltender,” BC coach Jerry … Read more
A rare NCAA matchup between Boston’s perennial archrivals — and their sixth meeting this season — was a dream matchup … but not for long, as Dave Hendrickson reflects.
Youth, particularly in the form of Chris Higgins, was served in BU’s Friday win over UNO. Dave Hendrickson says more heroics could be in the offing.
A tough stretch late in the regular season brought out the haters, but Boston College reversed those doubts in the Hockey East playoffs, says Dave Hendrickson.
After a win in the semifinals, Dave Hendrickson says Boston University’s six-man senior class can lead the Terriers to their first HEA tournament title in nearly a decade.
A Fantastic Finale The Hockey East season looks like it’ll go out with a bang. The league’s four perennial powerhouses — Boston University, Maine, Boston College and New Hampshire — will be squaring off for all the marbles. “It’s the usual suspects,” BU coach Jack Parker says. “All of us were fortunate to get [to … Read more