Site AdministratorAccording to the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune, Falcon defenseman Peter Ratchuk has renounced his three remaining years of NCAA eligibility to sign with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. Ratchuk, a 6-foot, 175-pound native of Buffalo, N.Y., scored nine goals and added 12 assists for Bowling Green in his rookie campaign last season, garnering honorable mention designation on … Read more
The prospects for the Princeton Tigers’ season took a hit this week when defenseman Dominique Auger, an ECAC all-rookie team selection last year, signed a contract with the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The loss of Auger is a severe blow to Princeton, where it isn’t easy to recruit players of … Read more
According to Wednesday’s Anchorage Daily Times, left winger Neil Schell, who led all Seawolf freshmen with 20 points in 35 games last season, will not return to UAA this year. Seawolf head coach Dean Talafous said Schell’s decision was based on health concerns — Schell is missing one kidney due to a junior-hockey injury — … Read more
Dominique Auger, the flashy Princeton defenseman who was an All-ECAC Rookie Team member last season, is seriously contemplating a jump to the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Auger, a native of Levis, Quebec, called Remparts general manager Raymond Bolduc on Saturday, saying he would like to play for the team. According … Read more
On Saturday, Gophers captain Mike Crowley became the second Minnesota player in a one-week span to turn pro, announcing his signing with the NHL’s Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Forward Erik Rasmussen announced his agreement to terms with the Buffalo Sabres last Wednesday. Crowley, a defenseman who would have been a senior this season, had nine … Read more
Boston University forward Dan LaCouture has signed a multiyear contract with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. LaCouture would have been a sophomore this fall. The signing came soon after the Oilers acquired LaCouture, 20, in a trade with the New York Islanders, who drafted him 29th overall in 1996. The 6-foot-3-inch, 210-pound LaCouture played in 31 … Read more
Hockey East power New Hampshire lost its leading goal-scorer Wednesday, as forward Eric Nickulas announced that he will renounce his senior year to play professionally. “It was a really tough decision, but right now I think it’s the best choice I can make,” Nickulas said. Although his NHL rights are held by the Boston Bruins, … Read more
The new season-opening Ice Breaker Cup tournament has undergone a change of venue and taken on a new name and corporate sponsor. The tournament is now the Team Cheerios Ice Breaker Invitational, and will be played at Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wis., home of the host Wisconsin Badgers. Originally, the tournament was to be … Read more
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Minnesota winger Erik Rasmussen will announce today that he has signed with the National Hockey League’s Buffalo Sabres. Rasmussen was the first American-born player taken in the 1996 draft, when the Sabres made him the seventh overall pick. His salary of $875,000 per year for three seasons is fixed by … Read more
Denver junior Paul Comrie has decided to return to school this year, passing up an offer from Red Deer of the Western Hockey League, according to an article in the Denver Post. The Post had earlier reported that Comrie would renounce his final two years of collegiate eligibility to play Canadian major junior hockey for … Read more
CCHA commissioner Bill Beagan, who is in his 13th year, has announced his retirement effective June 30, 1998. “I made my decision to retire two years ago,” said Beagan. “It was the right decision then, and it is the right decision now. I can think of no place on this planet that I would have … Read more
As reported by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Minnesota head coach Doug Woog has been placed on notice by athletic director Mark Dienhart for letting several hockey players — none underage — have access to beer at his expense after some games. “Under different athletic directors I’ve served [with], we’ve had different policies and no policies on … Read more
Like any good rumor, the one about the formation of a fifth NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey conference has taken on a life of its own. Well, the facts are in — the grist for the mill is expended. An official announcement is not expected for at least a few weeks, but eight schools … Read more
Denver junior Paul Comrie will forego his final two years of eligibility, according to an article in the Denver Post today, and will join Red Deer of the major junior Western Hockey League. Comrie, who led Denver with 21 goals and 28 assists in 40 games during his sophomore year, was expected to tell Pioneer … Read more
Forty-two current or future NCAA Division I players were chosen by National Hockey League teams at the league’s 1997 Entry Draft. Defenseman Ben Clymer of Minnesota was the first college player selected, as the Boston Bruins made him the first pick of the second round, 27th overall. Boston College and Notre Dame led the way … Read more
Forty-one players were named to the 1996-97 Hockey East All-Academic Honor Roll, headed up by its Top Scholar-Athlete, four Distinguished Scholars, and a league-high eight players from Merrimack. Boston University senior Shawn Ferullo earned the league’s Top Scholar-Athlete Award by compiling a grade point average of 3.91 in the school’s College of Arts and Sciences. … Read more
Brown’s two-month search for a new men’s ice hockey coach is finally over. Roger Grillo, a highly-regarded seven-year assistant at Vermont, was introduced Monday as the team’s next coach. He replaces Bob Gaudet, who left two months ago to take over the head coaching position at his alma mater, Dartmouth. “I’m excited to move from … Read more
Boston University head coach Jack Parker has turned down the offer from the Boston Bruins to be their next coach according to reports out of Boston. Parker was offered the job Wednesday by Bruins general manager Harry Sinden after meeting with team officials for an hour, and had until Monday to decide. Parker has compiled … Read more
For Bob Gaudet, going “home” again just felt like the right thing to do. On Apr. 2 Gaudet, the 1995 ECAC Coach of the Year, was named the next head coach at Dartmouth, his alma mater. He leaves behind a Brown program that he helped raise from the dead during his nine years, and returns … Read more
The Second Annual Eastern Senior All-Star game provided a surplus of excitement and goals for the 3,203 college hockey fans in attendance Sunday Apr. 6 as the ECAC all-stars edged the Hockey East seniors, 10-8, in an up-and-down, run-and-gun offensive shootout at the University of Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse. The ECAC team (comprised of players from … Read more